“The court’s clear rejection of the GOP’s attempted power grab is a win for voters and our state constitution.”

A special panel of North Carolina trial judges has halted the partisan seizure of state and local election boards. The three judges–one Democrat and two Republicans–unanimously agreed with Governor Roy Cooper’s challenge of the law directing the overhaul as unconstitutional.

Unless overturned on appeal, the judges’ preliminary injunction against the law’s implementation will remain in effect while the case is heard in state court. That means the North Carolina State Board of Elections and county boards of elections will remain appointed by the Governor, not by state legislative leaders. The three-judge panel found that such a shift of power from the governor to legislators violated the North Carolina state constitution’s delegation of executive authority to the governor. The state’s Supreme Court has previously endorsed this conclusion three times.

Potential impacts on the 2024 Elections

The governor’s retention of this power is likely critical to the fair implementation of the 2024 elections. If the courts shift that power to legislative leaders, they would trigger a process designed to guarantee partisan gridlock of elections boards on key matters. Such key matters include the number and location of early voting sites, as well as challenges to election outcomes. In the event of such gridlock on early voting plans, each gridlocked county would revert to a single early voting site for the entire county. Furthermore, in the event of partisan gridlock on election challenges, the decision would go to the legislature.

Moreover, North Carolina Senate Democratic Leader Dan Blue and House Democratic Leader Robert Reeves issued a joint statement saying the ruling was critical to election integrity in North Carolina. “The people’s faith in fair and free elections is at the very heart of a thriving democracy,” they said. “We applaud the unanimous decision to block Republicans’ latest assault on our democratic process. The court’s clear rejection of the GOP’s attempted power grab is a win for voters and our state constitution.”

Additionally, we know free and fair elections are essential to citizens’ ability to hold legislators accountable and advocate effectively for controls on polluters in our state. For further information, review our article on potential impacts of the election boards overhaul law.