How North Carolina’s Republicans Are Fighting Democracy

The post How North Carolina’s Republicans Are Fighting Democracy appeared first on WhoWhatWhy.

A war is heating up in North Carolina about the right to vote, and the political future of the state. The Wake County Superior Court found recently that the Republican-controlled General Assembly’s “power grab” last December to strip the incoming Democratic governor of his authority was unconstitutional, violating the state’s strictly defined separation of powers.

The ruling overturned the General Assembly’s plans to force the new governor to keep appointed holdovers from the former governor, Republican Pat McCrory, and it struck down the Republicans’ plans for restructuring the State Board of Elections (SBE).

The Republicans intended for the SBE to no longer have a majority of its members — at either the state or county level — belong to the governor’s party, for all decisions to be decided by supermajority consent, and, essentially, for Republicans to head the state and county boards on election years.

The election of a Democratic governor last year directly challenged the ability of the Republican-controlled General Assembly to defend a suite of voter disenfranchisement tactics that has been called a “monster law.”

For traditionally purple North Carolina, this fight represents a willingness by the GOP to abandon any vestige of bipartisanship in accepting the will of the electorate.

One can argue that the roadmap for the national Republicans to permanently consolidate power is being tried out in North Carolina — particularly in light of calls by the president to investigate alleged voter fraud.

By 2055, the United States will be far more ethnically diverse; no single race will make up more than 50 percent of the population. The country also is growing more liberal by the year, placing increasing pressure on conservatives to find ways to “stay at the table.” Many politicians have embraced undemocratic tactics in order to stay in power.

“The right to vote is our most fundamental right,” said North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, who, in February, filed a motion with the U.S. Supreme Court to dismiss the petition to appeal the overturning of the 2013 voting restrictions package.

The NC General Assembly has responded to this call with a petition of its own to the Supreme Court, seeking to disqualify Stein from the case.

“Voting is how people hold their government accountable,” said Stein in comments regarding his decision to drop the case. “I support efforts to guarantee fair and honest elections, but those efforts should not be used as an excuse to make it harder for people to vote.”

While the situation in North Carolina can be construed as a consequence of the hollowing of the Voting Rights Act, the North Carolina case is really a study in gerrymandering and how this “winners-take-all” approach to governance has managed to turn a demographically purple state into one that is solidly red. It is also a warning to the rest of the nation that — left unchecked — aggressive gerrymandering can, and will, be the end of American democracy.

North Carolina NAACP v. McCrory

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Looking at North Carolina in the six years since the GOP took over the General Assembly shows a ratcheting up of political gamesmanship towards party identity politics and away from popular opinion. A short list of the items passed or considered by the General Assembly to ensure or protect Republican power includes, but is not limited to:

•  A rollback of the incoming Democratic governor’s powers prior to his taking office, including a cut in the politically appointed offices the governor controls by two-thirds; denying the governor’s party the majority on the State Board of Elections and the subsidiary county offices, with Republicans chairing the board on election years; stripping the governor the right to appoint trustees to the University of North Carolina’s board of governors and requiring General Assembly’s consent and confirmation for secretary-level Cabinet positions (this was done in an emergency session after Republican former-governor Patrick McCrory conceded his defeat to current-governor Roy Cooper);

•  Requiring a state or federal-issued photo ID to be shown to a county’s board of election for a provisional ballot to be counted and banning university IDs (including IDs from the University of North Carolina, which is a state agency);

•  Making the public education requirement for a state-issued voter ID not mandatory;

•  An amendment to the state’s constitution to ban civil unions and gay marriage, statewide;

•  The adding of two seats to the North Carolina Supreme Court that would have been appointed by then-outgoing governor McCrory with the expressed purpose of breaking the Democratic 4-3 control of the court (the proposal fell through);

•  Initiating a voter registration purge in every county of the state, which unequivocally targeted black, Latino, and poor voters that may not have regular access to at-home mail delivery;

•  Passing HB 100, which would make races for state trial judges — including those for the state’s Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals — partisan and no longer subject to gubernatorial appointment;

•  Expanding the jurisdiction of the Republican-controlled NC Court of Appeals and adding new requirements and delays for granting appeals in specific cases, such as challenges to the state constitution or the redistricting maps;

•  Combining the State Board of Elections with the state’s lobbyist regulation office and Ethics Commission without adding any new monies to handle the increased workflow;  

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