“They're really taking away the governor's authority to manage policy,” Meyer said. "And in North Carolina, the legislature already has a lot more power than the governor.”
In a statement regarding Cooper's veto of the bill in August, N.C. Sen. Warren Daniel (R-Buncombe, Burke, McDowell), a primary sponsor of S.B. 512, said the purpose of the bill was to bring "better representation" to boards and commissions in North Carolina.
"The legislature is the elected body closest to the people of North Carolina and has the ability to recruit a qualified, diverse roster of appointees," he said.
N.C. Rep. Allen Buansi (D-Orange) said the governor’s ability to appoint members for state boards and commissions comes with being elected by all North Carolina voters, while the legislature is made up of individuals representing districts of the state.
He said removing that kind of power and consolidating it within the legislature would lead to a "huge" imbalance.
“And ultimately, when you have too much power cascaded into one branch of government, the people suffer,” Buansi said.
Andy Jackson, the director of the Civitas Center for Public Integrity at the John Locke Foundation, called the conflict between Cooper and the General Assembly a "classic clash" between two branches of government.
“And then we're going to have a third branch of government deciding the outcome of that struggle between the two, this is kind of just what the founders set up our system for in a sense," Jackson said.
S.B. 747
The lawsuit, filed by the N.C. Democratic Party in a federal district court against N.C. State Board of Elections, claims that S.B. 747 is a "direct assault" on the right to vote.
S.B. 747 makes changes to election laws, including eliminating the three-day grace period after Election Day to accept mail-in ballots. It requires all mail-in votes to be received by the county boards of elections by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.
Furthermore, if those who do same-day registration do not have their submitted information verified on time, the ballot can be withdrawn under the legislation.
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The plaintiffs are challenging provisions in the law on same-day registration, which require additional photo identification and address verification requirements.
Paige Anderholm, a staff writer at Democracy Docket, said that because of the elimination of the three-day grace period, mail-in ballots received after the new deadline will not be counted.
“As a few state representatives have pointed out in their debates for that change of the provision, over 13,000 North Carolinians would have been disenfranchised in 2020 if that deadline had been in place,” Anderholm said.
N.C. Rep. Renée Price (D-Caswell, Orange) said the bill gives observers the power to move throughout the voting space, as well as the freedom to take pictures of voters. She said that to her, this is a form of intimidation.
“We have had enough over the years of voter intimidation — particularly if you’re African American or a person of color — and trying to go and vote and have people hovering over you, listening to your conversations and seeing what you're trying to do — that may hinder some people from actually coming out to vote,” she said.
N.C. Republican Party chair Michael Whatley congratulated the General Assembly for overriding Cooper's vetoes of what he called "common-sense legislation" in a statement last week.
"North Carolina has reason to celebrate these common sense reforms, which will make the N.C. Board of Elections a non-partisan entity and add important election integrity safeguards," Whatley said.
@DTHCityState | city@dailytarheel.com
Kathryn DeHartKathryn DeHart is a 2024-25 assistant City & State Desk editor.
