Legislation would place NC elections under GOP auditor’s purview, stripping power from governor

Republican lawmakers in North Carolina plan to transfer authority over the state’s Board of Elections to the state auditor’s office, a move that will place administration and appointment of its members under GOP purview.

Changes would make it harder for people who use absentee ballots to have their votes count.

The plan, included in a bill that also funds further aid for Hurricane Helene relief, would further strip power from the governor’s office, which currently has appointment power and will remain in Democratic control under Governor-elect Josh Stein.

The measure also grants Auditor-elect Dave Boliek, a Republican, new jurisdiction after he defeated Auditor Jessica Holmes and flipped control of an office held by Democrats since 2009.

The board’s powers would remain independent of the auditor’s office, according to the bill, but its budgeting and appointments would fall under the direction of the auditor. The auditor’s ability to make appointments would start on May 1, 2025.

Staff at the State Board of Elections were presented with the bill Tuesday morning, spokesperson Pat Gannon said in an email to NC Newsline. He confirmed that if the changes were made law, control of the state board could change hands.

“It would result in a 3-2 Republican split,” Gannon wrote.

Karen Brinson Bell, the board’s executive director, said in a statement that the plan’s administrative changes could “make it impossible” for county boards to properly count votes.

“State Board staff were not consulted about this significant piece of legislation that transfers authority of the State Board of Elections and makes substantial administrative changes that may make it impossible for the county boards of elections to adequately ensure every eligible ballot cast is counted, especially in high turnout elections,” Brinson Bell said.
A spokesperson for Gov. Roy Cooper’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Stein wrote on social media Tuesday afternoon that he had met with leaders in western North Carolina, and criticized lawmakers for the plan.

“Many people and communities are hurting and need our help. But instead of stepping up, the Republicans in the General Assembly are grabbing power and exacting political retribution,” Stein wrote. “How about they do their jobs so we can do ours?! North Carolina deserves better.”

Under current law, the state board’s five members are appointed by the governor. Three members are the same political affiliation as the governor (currently a Democrat), and two are the state’s second-largest party (currently Republicans). The board hires its own executive director.

The plan marks a new step in a partisan fight over control of elections in North Carolina in which Republicans have sought to wrest control from the governor’s office ever since Cooper was elected in 2016.

A law passed last year transferred administrative authority of the state board to the Secretary of State’s office. It also sought to allow the General Assembly (controlled by Republicans) to make appointments to the board.

Cooper sued to block the law, calling it a “blatant violation” of the state constitution’s separation of powers. The suit has been backed by a bipartisan group of North Carolina’s five living governors.

The law has been blocked by a panel of superior court judges. Republican leaders in the legislature have appealed the decision. It’s not yet clear how lawmakers’ new bill, if it becomes law, would impact that litigation.

Another piece of the new plan would also allow the auditor’s office to appoint chairs of the state’s 100 county elections boards.

Changes to absentee voting, ballot counting process
Voting rights groups were appalled by the proposed changes, which would make it harder on people who vote absentee.

The bill shortens the time voters can request absentee ballots, gives them less time to correct mistakes after they mail their ballots, and gives county boards of election less time to count them.

“It’s an affront to voters that these kinds of changes are coming,” said Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina. 

“Clearly, it’s hard not to think it’s just a reaction to the fact that Allison Riggs, once the provisional ballots were tabulated, is now on top. I don’t see any good reason why any of this stuff has been proposed.”

Incumbent Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs, a Democrat, is leading Republican Appeals Court Judge Jefferson Griffin by 625 votes in the state Supreme Court race.  She was trailing on election night, but took the lead after counties counted provisional ballots and ballots delivered on Election Day. 

As it is now, if an absentee ballot is missing a voter signature, a witness address, or has some other mistake, voters now have more than a week after Election Day to correct it.  The bill would cut that to 2 ½ days. Similarly, voters who forget IDs when they go to the polls would have only 2 ½ days after the election to make it to their county elections office to show them. 

County officials try to contact absentee voters whose ballot envelopes have mistakes to give those voters a chance to correct them. 

The shortened timeline would mean that local elections officials may not have time to tell people about needed corrections. 

The changes would make it harder for Republicans, Democrats, and unaffiliated voters, Phillips said. 

“We should be celebrating that we had a free and fair election,” Phillips said. “This is an ugly lame duck session for sure.”

Republicans have supermajorities in the state House and Senate. That means that they can override Cooper’s veto. 

It appears that Democrats have broken the super-majority in the House by one seat. That would give Stein’s veto some juice, and make it harder for Republican bills to survive his vetoes. 

Shortening the time to correct absentee ballots means that fewer will be counted, said Adrianne Spoto, voting rights fellow with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. 

“I think it’s just another example of efforts to stop voters from being able to vote and have their votes counted,” she said. 

The boards of elections would also have less time to count absentee and provisional ballots. Absentee ballots would have to be counted on election night. Provisional ballots would have to be counted within three business days after the election. 

Big counties had thousands of general election absentee and provisional ballots to count this year. It took the Wake County elections board more than six hours last week to count absentee ballots that arrived on Election Day.

“They’re going to be up all night, and that’s when mistakes are made,” Phillips said. “There’s no reason for this.”

The bill had not been made public by Tuesday afternoon. 

“That’s just totally inappropriate,” Phillips said.

During the House debate, Republican Rep. Grey Mills said the changes will “bring certainty to our elections and to our elections process.”

But Rep. Zack Hawkins, a Durham Democrat, said changes would undermine voter trust.

County elections staff won’t have time to tell absentee voters how to fix errors, he said, and counties won’t be able to meet the new deadlines for ballot counting.

“Now, potentially, votes will be thrown out,” Hawkins said.

NC Newsline’s Brandon Kingdollar contributed reporting.