A power grab by Republicans in North Carolina becomes a referendum on democracy in the states
RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Democrats celebrated big wins in the swing state after the November electionsincluding victories in races for governor and other top statewide offices. But the political high point did not last long.
Republican lawmakers are strip away some core powers of the newly elected officials through a series of sweeping changes, anticipating that the outcome of a yet-to-be-named state legislative race will cost them their veto-proof majority next year. Critics say These steps, rushed through without any opportunity for public comment or analysis, undermine voters and are simply undemocratic, but they have few options to undo them.
“Let’s be clear: this bill is nothing more than a desperate power grab,” said Courtney Patterson, vice president of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP.
Among the changes are those included in a bill that is also being addressed Hurricane Helene relief, being stripping the new governor of the power to appoint state elections officials and instead give that responsibility to the state auditor — a job won last month by a Republican. The measure also weakens the governor’s ability to fill vacancies on the state Court of Appeals and the state Supreme Court. It prohibits the attorney general from taking legal positions inconsistent with those of the Legislature and weakens the powers of the state school superintendent and the lieutenant governor.
Democratic Government Roy Cooper and Attorney General Jos Steinwho will succeed Cooper next month, many say have already filed a lawsuit against Republican lawmakers parts of Senate Bill 382 violate the state constitution. The actions of Republicans in North Carolina are the latest example of how majoritarian parties in some states have tried to undermine representative democracy in recent years, using extreme gerrymandering to expand them hold power or try undermined office holders of the opposing party or voting initiatives that were passed in statewide elections.
“This is not how healthy democracies work,” said Steven Greene, a political science professor at North Carolina State University. “You don’t lose and decide you’re going to change the rules because you don’t like that you lost. It undermines the basic principles of democracy.”
Greene said he was disappointed but not surprised by the effort, which he describes as part of a familiar playbook. In 2016, hundreds of people protested and more than two dozen people were arrested after Republicans passed a bill during a special session that stripped the new Cooper administration of powers.
Republicans point out that Democrats acted to weaken executive branch positions after voters elected the state’s first GOP governor in the 20th century, in 1972, and the state’s only GOP lieutenant governor in 1988. century. North Carolina Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger blamed Democrats’ “blatant partisanship.” for necessitating the changes, which came just weeks after voters elected Democrats to the top statewide positions.
“The new measures in Senate Bill 382 balance our three branches of state government so that North Carolina remains on a positive trajectory, free from obstruction by the Democratic Party and liberal activists,” he said in a statement earlier this month.
While Democrats have won many top statewide offices over several election cycles, Republicans maintain a tight grip on the other two branches of government in North Carolina. Republicans control the Legislature and have at least a 5-2 majority on the state Supreme Court, where any dispute over the power-stripping legislation could ultimately end.
Since Republican lawmakers won control of the North Carolina Legislature in the 2010 elections, they have repeatedly drawn voting districts in their favor, just as Democrats had done when they were in power. This has ensured that the Republicans have maintained a firm grip on power in the legislature, while power has also remained in place for a long time. lawsuits about redistribution.
The current legislative districts favor Republicans. The Republican Party won about nine more seats in the state House this year than would have been expected based on their average share of district votes, according to an Associated Press analysis using a mathematical formula designed to detect gerrymandering.
“North Carolina is really a purple state,” said Melissa Price Kromm, executive director of North Carolina for People Action. “…But our legislature is so gerrymandered that it allows for a Republican supermajority to enable these nefarious attacks on our democracy. It is ingrained in the system.”
Meanwhile, an extremely tight race for a State Supreme Court chair has led to a legal battle about the possible disposal of tens of thousands of ballots. With the incumbent Democratic justice clinging to a narrow lead, so does the challenge for the Republican candidate objecting to ballots of voters whose registration does not include a driver’s license or social security number. His lawyers claim that makes them incomplete.
“North Carolina voters see that the same people trying to overturn the results of the state Supreme Court race are the same people trying to change the way our elections are handled, the way powers and government functions are handled. ,” said Julia. Hawes, communications director at the statewide advocacy group Democracy North Carolina. “Many of us have been watching this power grab and attempts to overthrow the will of the people for more than a decade.”
Lawmakers in several other states have also made attempts to do so overturn some of the results of the November election. In Missouri, Republicans are taking the first steps to curtail voter-approved abortion protections by introducing a new constitutional amendment to restrict access to abortion. Massachusetts Democrats are exploring options to change the audit process after voters overwhelmingly approved giving the state auditor the power to monitor the Legislature.
During last week’s veto override at the North Carolina House, more than a hundred protesters chanted “Shame” and “People power” as they were escorted from the chamber’s gallery. Two days earlier, hundreds marched to the Legislative Building to deliver documents opposing the bill.
Rep. Cynthia Ball, a Democrat and member of the Election Law Committee, criticized Republicans for not making the bill public sooner, not offering a public comment period and putting such a significant shift in power into legislation that included storm relief.
“Our democracy is increasingly threatened when things happen behind closed doors,” she said.
Della Hann, 64, traveled the 2.5 hours to Raleigh from her home in Southport to demonstrate when the Senate agreed to override Cooper’s veto of what she called “a terrible bill.”
The legislation, she said, is “not for the people of the state. It is up to the people sitting in that room to maintain their power.”
Kromm, of North Carolina for the People Action, said watching the crowds that gathered in protest offered hope and said her group would focus on educating voters so they can hold lawmakers accountable.
“The sheer number of people who showed up showed that the people of North Carolina care about what is happening in our legislature, and they are not going to give up without a fight,” she said. “They know that authoritarianism thrives on complacency and that we must stand firm. together and refuse to let this attack on democracy go unanswered.”
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Fernando reported from Chicago. Associated Press writers Makiya Seminera in Raleigh, North Carolina, and David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, contributed to this report.
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