News from the South - North Carolina News Feed
How the state GOP seized control of North Carolina’s elections boards could be a ready-for-Hollywood thriller • Asheville Watchdog
In my years observing politics and hurricanes at The Miami Herald I frequently rewatched the 1948 thriller “Key Largo,” which combined the two subjects in a classic hero-versus-villain story. The hero, played by Humphrey Bogart, was a decorated World War II veteran. The villain, a mob boss named Johnny Rocco who controlled rackets and local politicians, was played by Edward G. Robinson.
The two were thrown together in a Florida Keys hotel as a killer hurricane bore down and people huddled inside, terrorized by the storm and Rocco’s gun-wielding gangsters. My favorite scene came when Robinson’s Rocco brags of how he bends local government to his malevolent will.
“I make [politicians] out of whole cloth, just like a tailor makes a suit,” Rocco sneers. “…I get them on the ballot, then after the election we count the votes. And if they don’t turn out right, we recount them. And recount them again. Until they do.”
The North Carolina Republican Party could teach some new tricks to Johnny Rocco.
In recent months, mostly obscured from public view, the GOP has seized control of the state’s election system in ways that would make Rocco envious. Not only has the party shown a propensity to count and count again (Jefferson Griffin vs. Allison Riggs for a state Supreme Court seat), but it has backed that up with legislative and judicial muscle.
This doesn’t just impact what goes on in Raleigh. By the end of June, it will hit with hurricane force in Buncombe and other counties when the GOP completes the process of having placed loyalists in position to oversee the ballot counting in the 2026 elections.
“When you talk about rigging elections,” Buncombe County Board of Elections chairman Jake Quinn told me as he described all that has occurred in recent months, “the question people will have is how North Carolina became ground zero for doing that.”
How we got to “ground zero” is the story that remains largely untold.
Here’s a scenario to help picture the situation that awaits us in future elections: Had the state Republican Party had this machinery in place during last year’s judicial elections, Griffin likely would be on the state Supreme Court among an 8-1 Republican majority despite losing by 734 meticulously counted votes to Justice Riggs, a Democrat.
How? Because a GOP-majority state Board of Elections, backed by a GOP-majority Supreme Court, would have erased the ballots of 66,000 voters – disproportionately Democratic ones – on the tenuous claim they failed to provide appropriate voter ID.
The Republican leadership has captured North Carolina’s elections machinery with nary a public outcry, at least not yet. It was orchestrated like a chess game with the different pieces moving in multiple directions at once until checkmate.
Power shift began in December
The first move occurred in December, six weeks after Democrat Josh Stein won election as governor and the General Assembly – still with the GOP’s veto-proof majority – was seeking ways to weaken his authority.
Using a Tropical Storm Helene-relief bill for cover, the Republican leadership rammed through a veto-proof amendment stripping the governor of authority to administer North Carolina’s state and county election boards and appoint their chairmen.
By statute, each board has five members: two Republicans and two Democrats nominated by their parties, plus the governor’s pick as chairman, typically a fellow party member. With Stein’s victory, the certain result would have been boards with three Democrats and two Republicans.
For the Republicans to implement the takeover, that law had to change.
Within 24 hours and without legislative deliberation or public input, a new section was tacked on to Senate Bill 382 shifting these election board appointments from Stein to newly elected state Auditor Dave Boliek whose primary qualification for the new assignment appeared to be that he is a Republican who says he was “inspired” by President Trump to run.
Boliek, an ex-Democrat, is a lawyer and former head of the UNC Board of Trustees who boasts of his efforts to “eliminate woke diversity and equity policies” from the university. But he acknowledges being clueless about how he was gifted this newly found executive power to administer North Carolina elections.
“It’s not something I asked for; it’s certainly not something that I expected,” he says.
Despite this utter lack of preparation, Boliek has seized this mantle with zeal. On May 7, a week after the new law took effect, Boliek fired the state elections board’s award-winning executive director Karen Brinson Bell, who had just been elected president of the non-partisan National Elections Association.
But Brinson Bell had drawn withering fire from Republicans for recommending certification of Riggs’s narrow victory over Griffin. Boliek also appointed two new Republican board members whom the Democratic Party immediately labeled as extremists: retired Marine Corps pilot Francis X. DeLuca and former state Sen. Bob Rucho.
DeLuca formerly headed the arch-conservative Civitas Foundation which, among other initiatives, attempted to eliminate early-voting on Sundays and same-day voter registration, reforms that have increased turnout among low-income voters who tend to support Democratic candidates.
Rucho earned the dubious nickname “Senator Gerrymander” for crafting a pro-Republican district-election map that one state appellate court said had been drawn with “surgical precision” to ensure GOP control. A determining feature of Rucho’s maps included diluting the collective voting strength of Blacks who tend to vote for Democrats.
Yet in 2019 his map passed muster with the U.S. Supreme Court in a landmark case titled Rucho v. Common Cause. The 5-4 majority conceded that the map was “incompatible with democratic principles.” But Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that such partisan matters as gerrymandering were not within the jurisdiction of federal courts and should be left up to the states.
So here we are in North Carolina with a gerrymandered General Assembly, a gerrymandered congressional delegation, and the state’s appellate and Supreme Court with lopsided Republican majorities.
Gov. Stein’s failed attempt to regain administrative authority over the election machinery exemplifies how effectively the GOP can now exercise power. Days after his inauguration, Stein filed suit to strike the section of Senate Bill 382 stripping him of executive authority over elections.
A three-judge panel in Wake County composed of two Republicans and one Democrat heard the case. In a 2-1 decision – the Democrat and one Republican – the court declared the section to be unconstitutional, thus returning authority to the governor.
But Boliek appealed that decision to the state’s Republican-dominated appellate court. The appellate judges reversed the result and gave a green light to the auditor’s takeover.
Notably, this court’s decision was rendered anonymously and without comment, the judicial equivalent of a back-handed slap at the Wake County district judges. Stein’s appeal to the state Supreme Court, with its 7-2 Republican majority, went unheard and it died in silence. The new law took effect May 1.
The full impact of this change remains to be felt in Buncombe and the state’s other 99 counties. Boliek has until June 30 to appoint the heads of these county boards and to certify appointments of their members.
Let me return to Buncombe County Board Chairman Quinn whom I quoted earlier characterizing the state as “ground zero for vote rigging.” As a Democrat, he expects to be ousted from the leadership post and perhaps as a board member, which he admits he will lament. Yet two things trouble him more than his own plight.
One has been the role that many (though not all) Republican state judges have played in enabling this partisan power grab.
“I have no faith any longer in the North Carolina courts,” Quinn said. “We’re at a stage where we have to pray for judges to make decisions upholding free and fair elections.”
The second has been that this bulldozing of the elections system has been carried out with hardly any public knowledge or outcry, and deliberately so. “Only election nerds like me know about this,” Quinn said.
Johnny Rocco would applaud.
Asheville Watchdog welcomes thoughtful reader comments on this story, which has been republished on our Facebook page. Please submit your comments there.
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Tom Fiedler is a Pulitzer Prize-winning political reporter and dean emeritus from Boston University who lives in Asheville. Email him at tfiedler@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.
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The post How the state GOP seized control of North Carolina’s elections boards could be a ready-for-Hollywood thriller • Asheville Watchdog appeared first on avlwatchdog.org
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Left
This content critiques Republican control over election administration in North Carolina, highlighting concerns about partisan manipulation and voter suppression efforts predominantly credited to GOP actions. The article emphasizes the Republican Party’s consolidation of election oversight and judicial support to maintain power, while portraying Democratic actors and election officials as marginalized or undermined. The language and framing suggest a critical stance toward conservative policies and practices, aligning it with a center-left perspective that is wary of right-wing political maneuvers affecting democratic processes.
News from the South - North Carolina News Feed
North Carolina’s racial gerrymandering trial ends with dueling expert testimony
SUMMARY: A federal trial in Winston-Salem reviewed claims that North Carolina’s 2023 election district maps dilute Black voting power, violating federal law. Civil rights groups and voters argued Republican legislators racially gerrymandered districts to reduce Black voters’ influence, especially in the Piedmont Triad, Mecklenburg County, and eastern NC’s 1st Congressional District. Lawyers cited a drop in districts where Black voters could elect preferred candidates, despite population growth. Republicans contended districts were drawn for partisan advantage, not race. Expert witnesses debated whether race or partisanship drove redistricting. The three-judge panel, appointed by Republican presidents, will rule by early August.
The post North Carolina’s racial gerrymandering trial ends with dueling expert testimony appeared first on ncnewsline.com
News from the South - North Carolina News Feed
Water plant resumes production in Mebane, but restrictions remain
SUMMARY: The city of Mebane is gradually restoring water production after floodwaters damaged its Grand Haven Water Treatment Plant, which caused a major water emergency. Residents were previously unable to shower at home, prompting community efforts including the Alamance County YMCA and local businesses offering shower access. Many businesses remain closed due to water shortages, and water distribution sites are operational, distributing bottled water amid concerns supplies may dwindle. Repairs to key plant components like pump motors and electrical breakers are ongoing. While water production has resumed, authorities warn it could take days to return to normal, and residents may notice water discoloration during this period.
The Graham-Mebane Water Treatment Plant has resumed production, moving a step closer to gradually returning to normal water.
https://abc11.com/post/tropical-storm-chantal-damage-nc-water-plant-resume-production-mebane-restrictions-remain/17056799/
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News from the South - North Carolina News Feed
PETA sues American Kennel Club over standards for French bulldogs, other breeds
SUMMARY: PETA is suing the American Kennel Club (AKC) over breeding standards for popular dog breeds like French bulldogs, pugs, and dachshunds. PETA argues these standards promote unhealthy traits causing lifelong suffering, such as bulldogs’ large skulls and shortened faces that impede breathing. The lawsuit cites UK research showing French bulldogs have poorer health, and notes the Netherlands banned breeding short-nosed dogs. Dachshunds’ long backs and short legs also lead to painful conditions. The AKC rejects PETA’s claims, stating it is committed to dogs’ health and well-being. This lawsuit continues a long-standing conflict between PETA and the AKC.
The animal rights group PETA sued Tuesday to try to force the American Kennel Club to abandon the standards it backs for hyper-popular French bulldogs and some other breeds, contending that the influential club is promoting unhealthy physical features.
More: https://abc11.com/post/peta-sues-american-kennel-club-breeding-standards-french-bulldogs-other-breeds/17038437/
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