In this week's update:

• NC House overrides Governor's Veto
• Cooper, Stein sue GOP lawmakers over SB 382
• Voter ID
• NC Supreme Court Challenges
• NCGA adjourns until 2025 
• Save the Date! 2025 Advocacy Day

NC House Overrides Governor’s Veto 

North Carolina lawmakers on Wednesday enacted a law over the governor’s veto that would diminish the powers afforded to his successor and other Democratic statewide winners in the Nov. 5 elections.

In a 72-46 vote, the GOP-dominated House overrode Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto a week after the Republican-controlled Senate voted to do the same.

Like during the Senate vote, opponents to the power-shifting bill sat in the gallery and disrupted the chambers’ floor proceedings. More than 150 people gathered on the third floor — more than the House gallery could seat. They chanted “shame” as the override vote completed and continued to yell as they were escorted out.

After warning disruptors they would face arrest if they didn’t quiet down and leave the building, General Assembly police arrested one woman who refused to leave, said police Chief Martin Brock, adding that she would face charges of trespassing, resisting arrest and violating building rules.

Many provisions within the 132-page law seek to diminish powers afforded to Gov.-elect Josh Stein, incoming attorney general Jeff Jackson, the next Democratic lieutenant governor and the schools superintendent. They all take office early next month. One of the most significant changes shifts the power to appoint State Board of Elections members from the governor to the state auditor, who will be a Republican next year.

For decades, the governor has selected its five members, with the governor’s party usually taking three seats. The enacted law transfers that power to the state auditor starting in spring. This in turn, means Republicans will likely hold majorities on the state board and the county election boards.

The legislation also weakens the governor’s authority to fill vacancies on the state Court of Appeals and Supreme Court and prevents the attorney general from taking legal positions contrary to the General Assembly in litigation challenging a law’s validity. Several post-election deadlines will move up under the law after Republican complaints that counties took too long to count provisional and absentee ballots, especially in light of an extremely close Supreme Court race.

In his veto message, Cooper called the bill a sham in which Republicans used Helene and “disaster relief” in its title to mask unconstitutional political power grabs — a message repeated by House Democrats and Stein.

“It is despicable for the Republicans in the General Assembly to use folks’ incredible need for aid to cloak their political pettiness,” Stein said in a statement after the vote.

Other opponents to the bill said at a Wednesday news conference that GOP lawmakers weren’t serving western North Carolinians and instead were undermining democracy.

“Western North Carolina is not a toy to be played with. It is not an opportunity to exploit. It is not a place to be so violently disrespected,” said Sam Stites, a Transylvania County staff member from advocacy group Just Economics of Western North Carolina.

It’s likely the new law will be mired in litigation — just like eight years ago, after Republicans passed laws weakening Cooper’s powers just before he took office. [Source]
 

Cooper, Stein sue GOP lawmakers over legislation stripping power from governor

North Carolina's Democratic governor and governor-elect filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging as unconstitutional a new law that the Republican-led state legislature passed Wednesday over a gubernatorial veto.

The wide-ranging law strips a number of powers and duties from the office soon to be held by Gov.-elect Josh Stein, as well as from other state offices that Democrats won election to in this year's elections. Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed it, but Republicans in the state legislature overrode his veto in party-line votes.

Thursday's lawsuit, filed in Wake County Superior Court, challenges a small part of the law that makes the state Highway Patrol an independent agency — allowing the state legislature to vote down Stein's picks to lead the agency, and effectively forcing him to pick a Highway Patrol leader who would actually answer to Republican lawmakers, not the governor.

In their lawsuit, Stein and Cooper, who served as attorney general before Stein, say that's unconstitutional. The state constitution gives the governor ultimate control over public safety, they say, and also prevents the legislative branch from meddling in the affairs of the executive branch.

“Today, Governor Cooper and I have taken legal action to stop the legislature’s unconstitutional and dangerous power grab," Stein, the state's sitting attorney general, wrote in announcing the lawsuit. "This law threatens public safety, fractures the chain of command during a crisis, and thwarts the will of voters. Our people deserve better than a power-hungry legislature that puts political games ahead of public safety.”

Spokespeople for House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, and Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, who were named as defendants in the suit, didn't immediately respond to requests for comment late Thursday.

Similar lawsuits are expected in the coming days over a number of other provisions in the bill, which also takes away the governor's power over the State Board of Elections and the Utilities Commission, as well as the governor's ability to fill certain judicial vacancies. It also targets incoming Attorney General Jeff Jackson, incoming Lt. Gov. Rachel Hunt and incoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Mo Green, who are also Democrats.

Cooper's office indicated more lawsuits over other pieces of the law are soon to come. "The language in that bill was introduced just days after the 2024 elections and included a variety of provisions that undermine the results of the election by stripping powers from the newly elected governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and state superintendent of public instruction. The bill also contains a variety of provisions that violate the separation of powers and unconstitutionally reduce executive power."

Read more here. 

Voter ID

As the year wraps up, taking with it the GOP’s legislative supermajority, Republican lawmakers in the North Carolina House passed a bill Wednesday to revise the state constitution’s language regarding voter identification. The bill is not subject to the governor’s veto, so now that it has received a three-fifths majority vote in both the House and the Senate, voters will see it on their 2026 ballot.

If approved by voters, the proposed amendment would require all voters — not just those voting in person — to present photo identification before casting a ballot. It will not immediately impact voters, since under current state law, they must already provide photo ID when voting in person on Election Day or during early voting. Those voting via absentee ballot must already include a copy of their photo ID with their ballot. The bill would make the language part of the constitution.

Katelin Kaiser, policy director of Democracy North Carolina, said the bill “is unnecessary” as state law already requires photo ID. “This is another attempt to disenfranchise voters by mail, and it is working. Legislative leadership has made it more difficult for students, older people, and people who are disabled to vote by mail in North Carolina,” she said. “We should be working on expanding voting access and ensuring every eligible voter can easily vote and have that ballot counted,” she said. [Source]

NC Supreme Court Challenges

The North Carolina state Board of Elections voted Wednesday to reject a Republican challenge to throw out 60,000 ballots in a state Supreme Court race that the Democratic incumbent leads by just over 700 votes.

The board, where Democrats have a 3-2 edge, could now move to certify the victory by Democrat Allison Riggs, eliminating a major hurdle for the party in the contested race.

Riggs, who was appointed to the state Supreme Court in 2023, emerged from Election Day with a narrow lead over Republican Jefferson Griffin, a state appeals court judge, triggering two recounts.

A full machine recount showed Riggs leading Griffin by 734 votes. A second, partial hand recount of the race increased Riggs’ lead marginally, but that total is not considered official by North Carolina's elections board. More than 5.5 million ballots were cast in the race.

Following Election Day, Griffin’s team filed hundreds of legal challenges across all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, alleging that nearly 60,000 people voted illegally. Many of the allegations centered around people who Griffin’s lawyers claimed didn’t have a driver’s license number or Social Security number on file in their voter registration records.

“These voters were not eligible to cast a ballot without first lawfully registering,” attorneys for Griffin’s campaign wrote in the first brief to North Carolina's election board.

The protests from Griffin pertained to votes that fall into three categories.

The vast majority of the votes in question are ones that were cast by voters whose registration records lack required information, Republicans claimed.

At the center of that category is the fact that voter registration applications approved by legislators 20 years ago were intended to require people to note their driver’s license or Social Security numbers. The form, however, didn’t include that requirement, and in subsequent years, tens of thousands of voters didn’t include them on it. In addition, some voters likely registered before the 2004 law was passed.

The other two categories of votes Republicans contested related to overseas voters.

The Board of Elections held consecutive votes on all three categories Wednesday. The first vote, on the matter regarding driver's license and Social Security numbers, and the second vote on a matter related to overseas voters who haven’t lived in North Carolina, came along party lines. A third vote on an issue related specifically to overseas voters who failed to provide photo identification with their ballots, was rejected unanimously.

Griffin or the North Carolina Republican Party could appeal the decision, which would insert the case into the state court system. If that occurs, the case could eventually make its way to the state Supreme Court.

In a statement, North Carolina GOP Chairman Jason Simmons criticized the ruling and said the party would "review the board’s decision and reserve the right to any future actions to protect the integrity of our elections."

The North Carolina Democratic Party filed a suit in federal court on Friday seeking to ensure all ballots in the race were counted. The suit, which effectively sought to preempt a potential elections board ruling against Riggs, pointed out that the federal law does not allow states to toss out ballots because voter registration papers are missing a driver’s license number or a Social Security number.

Ahead of the election, Republicans had filed a suit seeking to remove 225,000 voters from the rolls who had the same information missing in their registration records. The case, filed in a federal court, was dismissed.

Republicans currently have a 5-2 majority on the state Supreme Court. A Riggs victory would maintain that.

(source: NBC News) 

NCGA adjourns until 2025 

Both chambers of the NC General Assembly adjourned the Regular Session of the 2023-2024 calendar on Friday, December 13, 2024.  They are not scheduled to return to Raleigh until Wednesday, January 8, 2025 for the start of the 2025 Legislative Long Session.  

Save the Date! 2025 Advocacy Day

MARK YOUR CALENDERS! NASW-NC's 2025 Advocacy Day is WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2025 in Downtown Raleigh! We will have a new location for morning orientation (sessions between 9AM-12PM) this year due to the NC History Museum being closed for renovation.  

New Location: Church on Morgan

136 E Morgan St, Raleigh, NC 27601

Church on Morgan's meeting space is like an auditorium, not with religious symbolism of any kind.  

Church on Morgan is located (.4) miles/10 minute walk past the historic North Carolina State Capitol Building & then down Bicentennial Plaza to the NC General Assembly.  Please make plans to park where you did for 2023 Advocacy Day! 

That afternoon you will have in-person visits with your legislators on important 2024 Legislative Agenda items such as passage of the Social Work Interstate Licensure Compact Bill! Registration and more information will be sent after the holidays in January 2025.  We hope you can join us! 

Thank you to the members of NASW-NC for supporting the advocacy work we do. We would not be able to advocate for the social work profession or social justice issues in North Carolina without a robust and engaged NASW membership. If you are a social worker and not a member, we ask that you join NASW today. Our voice is louder with your membership.

Learn more about NASW-NC membership here.

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