RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina's elections board became a Republican majority on Thursday as the GOP state auditor appointed a new panel one day after an appeals court ruled a law shifting that power away from the Democratic governor could still be enforced while its constitutionality is deliberated.
Auditor Dave Boliek announced three Republicans and two Democrats for the board, picked from lists provided by the state parties. His actions came just a week after trial judges agreed with new Gov. Josh Stein that a law finalized in December by the Republican-controlled General Assembly stripping the governor of board appointment authority violated the state constitution. Stein and Democratic predecessor Roy Cooper sued to overturn the law.
But Boliek, who was elected last fall to the post, went ahead with appointments after the intermediate-level Court of Appeals on Wednesday said the appointment switch could still be carried out while broader legal questions are reviewed on appeal.
Stein asked the state Supreme Court late Wednesday to suspend the unanimous ruling of the three appeals judges and keep blocking the law. But the justices hadn't acted on his request as of late Thursday — giving Boliek time to step in. The law said the terms of the five most recent members, which were otherwise supposed to continue until 2027, expired Wednesday and that new members would be appointed to four-year terms that begin Thursday.
The appointments, if upheld, would mark a dramatic change in election administration in the battleground state. For over a century, the governor has picked the five board members, three of whom are traditionally members of the governor’s party, which most recently since 2017 has been the Democrats.
With Boliek, Republicans could assume holding a majority on the board, whose duties include carrying out campaign finance laws, certifying election results and setting voting administration rules.
The shift is a political victory for the GOP, which since late 2016 has sought to erode or eliminate a governor’s authority to appoint the board. Four previous laws targeting Cooper were blocked by courts. Voters in 2018 also rejected a constitutional amendment that would have forced the governor to pick members recommended by legislative leaders.
Republicans complained that a governor — often singling out Cooper — has too much control over elections, resulting in one-party decision-making by the board on several key voting and candidacy issues.
But Democrats say the laws have been GOP power grabs designed to give Republicans an unfair advantage in elections, and the latest is no different.
In a letter Thursday to Boliek containing her party's slate of potential appointees, state Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton made clear its opposition to the change: "Republicans’ passage of an unconstitutional bill wrenching that power from the Governor’s office and giving it to you is an abuse of power and a disservice to the people of North Carolina.”
The board’s importance has been apparent in the still-unresolved November election for a state Supreme Court seat between Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs and Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin, himself a Court of Appeals judge.
Stein said Wednesday after the Court of Appeals ruling that he feared the appointment changes would mean Republicans could succeed in helping Griffin win the seat. The current tally has Riggs slightly ahead.
Boliek appointed Republican members Stacy “Four” Eggers, who served on the most recent board; former state Sen. Bob Rucho; and Francis De Luca, former president of a conservative think tank.
"These board members will ensure North Carolinians have fair, free, honest, and transparent administration of elections,” state GOP Chairman Jason Simmons said Thursday.
Later Thursday, Boliek said on X that he had picked as Democratic appointees Siobhan O’Duffy Millen and Jeff Carmon, who also have been serving on the board with Eggers.
Lawyers for Stein argue the appointment transfer unlawfully interfered with the governor’s responsibility in the state constitution to take care that laws are “faithfully executed.” Two of three trial judges hearing his lawsuit sided April 23 with Stein. Their order also blocked a power transfer that would direct Boliek in June to choose the chairs of county election boards. But the appeals court decision set aside that judgment.
Lawyers for Berger and House Speaker Destin Hall argue the state constitution allows the General Assembly to disperse executive branch powers to carry out laws to other statewide elected officials.
The Court of Appeals ruling neither provided reasons for the judges' ruling nor identified the judges who ruled. In such matters, the court releases their names after 90 days.
Gary D. Robertson, The Associated Press
