The North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) is an agency of the
North Carolina state government charged with the administration of the elections process, as well as campaign finance, and lobbying disclosure and compliance. The State Board of Elections works in conjunction with the state's 100 County Boards of Elections.
Session Law 2018-146 re-established the pre-2017 board, effective January 31, 2019. The agency will thus be overseen by a five-member board – three from the governor's party and two from the other party. From March 2018 until December 2018, a contested nine-member Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement existed (see below). The agency had a vacant board from June 2017 until March 2018.
Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement (2017–18)
The Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement was created as an agency overseen by an eight-member board, merging the five-member State Board of Elections, the State Ethics Commission and the Lobbying Compliance Division of the
Secretary of State’s Office. A first law to this effect was signed by outgoing Governor
McCrory (R) on December 16, 2016 in a special session shortly after
Roy Cooper
Roy Asberry Cooper III (born June 13, 1957) is an American attorney and politician, serving as the 75th governor of North Carolina since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th attorney general of North Carolina from 20 ...
(D) defeated McCrory in the
November 2016 gubernatorial election. With the law, the Republican-majority
General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...
limited the power of the newly elected Democratic Governor in the appointment of the board's members. Newly sworn in Governor Cooper filed suit, and the law was struck down on March 17, 2017 by a three-judge panel of
Wake County
Wake County is located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. In the 2020 census, its population was 1,129,410, making it North Carolina's most-populous county. From July 2005 to July 2006, Wake County was the 9th-fastest growing county in the U ...
Superior Court. In April 2017, a new version of the law, Senate Bill 68, was passed by the General Assembly by overriding Governor
Cooper
Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to:
* Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels
Arts and entertainment
* Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads
* Cooper (video game character), in ...
's veto, enacting Session Law 2017-6.
Governor Cooper sued again and on June 1, 2017, the same panel as in the previous case dismissed the lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction. Cooper appealed, while the new State Board remained vacant. On January 26, 2018, the
North Carolina Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina is the state of North Carolina's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consists ...
held in ''Cooper v. Berger'' that the provisions of this law regarding membership and appointment of the board violated the separation of powers clause under the
Constitution of North Carolina
The Constitution of the State of North Carolina governs the structure and function of the state government of North Carolina, one of the United States; it is the highest legal document for the state and subjugates North Carolina law. All U.S. st ...
. The General Assembly subsequently passed House Bill 90, creating a ninth position on the state board and giving the governor more control over the appointments. While Governor Cooper let the bill become law without his signature, he again filed suit. Governor Cooper appointed the board's members in March 2018, after it being vacant since June 2017. The General Assembly also referred a constitutional amendment to the November 2018 ballot, which would have codified this board into the constitution. It was opposed by the current and former governors and was ultimately defeated, 62% to 38%, by voters.
Additionally, in October 2018, just weeks before the November elections, the same three-judge panel of the earlier lawsuits ruled the nine-member board unconstitutional as well. Because of the timing, the court allowed the board to continue operating until after the elections.
However, the nine-member board did not certify the
9th Congressional District election on November 27, ordering an investigation into election fraud. Therefore the judges issued a stay of their order, allowing time for the investigation to be conducted and for the General Assembly to enact a law for a new board. The General Assembly thus passed a bill in December 2018 (over the Governor's veto) re-establishing the former State Board of Elections and State Ethics Commission as separate bodies, effective January 31, 2019. However, the existing nine-member board set a hearing for January 11, 2019, well beyond the December 28 deadline ordered by the court. The court refused to extend the deadline further, dissolving the board while the congressional election remained unresolved.
See also
*
Elections in North Carolina
References
External links
North Carolina State Board of Elections
{{Authority control
North Carolina elections
Election commissions in the United States