A Panel of State Judges Weigh The Challenge To The Checks And Balances In Our System

A panel of state Superior Court judges last week heard oral arguments over Gov. Roy Cooper’s challenge to the 2023 legislation stripping away his right to appoint the members of the state and local boards of elections. The judges froze the new law’s implementation last year. During the February 28 hearing, they asked questions suggesting that the panel is prepared to rule that the new law violates the North Carolina Constitution’s mandate for separation of powers between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of state government. 

Boards on which the governor has no appointees and is limited in removing members leave “the governor with little control over the views and priorities of the majority of the members of those executive branch groups, and prevents the governor from having the final say on how the laws are executed,” said Cooper attorney Jim Phillips. In support of this argument, Cooper’s attorneys cited NC Supreme Court cases going back 50 years and including a 2018 ruling directly addressing the legal principle at issue in the current case.

When Will Judges Decide?

The panel is expected to issue its decision by the end of this week. If it rules in favor of Cooper’s challenge, as is widely anticipated, Republican state legislators defending the challenged law will certainly seek immediate review by the mostly new membership of the NC Supreme Court.

The final decision in this case could well determine whether our state’s 2024 elections are administered fairly and efficiently, or are plagued by widespread partisan gridlock that reduces public participation and shakes public confidence in the election process.