Executive Watch: Governor Retains Authority

The proposed state constitutional amendment to change the makeup of the state Board of Elections was also soundly defeated, blocking the legislative plan to knock the governor out of that process.

That amendment failed, with 62% in opposition to 38% in favor.

The attempt to shift appointment power over the board’s membership from the governor to the legislature was a key part of the effort to consolidate nearly complete control of North Carolina government in the hands of the current legislative majority.

If it had succeeded, legislators would have been able to appoint all the members of the board, and it would have routinely deadlocked 4-4 between appointees of the two major parties. Among the bad outcomes that would have occurred without a tiebreaking vote, anti-voting rights forces in charge of county boards of elections could have successfully passed weak early voting plans, with the state board unable to break the tie in favor of strong voter access to the polls. Our rights to clean air and water depend on our ability to vote for candidates who will fight for those rights; polluters and the politicians they support are determined to keep us from exercising these rights.

This amendment was blocked in part by a bipartisan alliance of all six living governors and all six living Supreme Court chief justices. The two Republican former governors (Pat McCrory and Jim Martin) joined the four Democrats (Roy Cooper, Beverly Perdue, Mike Easley, and Jim Hunt) to campaign against this and the judicial vacancies amendment. Their message was simple: enforcing voting laws is part of the governor’s executive authority, and that requires the power to appoint a majority of the board’s members. The message was amplified by a well-funded ad campaign in opposition to all six amendments, which NCLCV supported.

Up next, Environmental Allies Take Over U.S. House >>

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