NC judicial panel overturns 2 of 3 laws stripping Cooper of power (Updated x3)

[Virginiá]

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article139231588.html

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This means:

1. The elections board and ethics board is now separate, and the Governor now retains the ability to appoint 3 of the 5 members, giving Cooper/Democrats control of county election boards and thus things like early voting plans.

2. Cooper can now appoint up to 1,500 managerial positions in the executive branch, just like McCrory. Republicans had tried to reduce this to 425 before Cooper took office, but was found unconstitutional by this court.

3. Midnight law requiring Senate confirmation of 10 cabinet appointees still stands - a power the Senate is given directly by the State Constitution


*** Appeals can be made to the state supreme court, but seeing as it is Democrat-controlled and at least the board of elections decision was unanimous, it is very likely they will stand


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Here is the full comprehensive bill passed by the legislature stripping Cooper of numerous powers: http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2015E4/Bills/House/HTML/H17v7.html
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Lawsuits still in the works:

State

1. Lawsuit from school board challenging midnight law shifting power from Governor-controlled board to Republican-held (as of 2017) state superintendent of public instruction office.

2. Not sure if a lawsuit was filed against this, but the legislature also shifted appointments to the board of trustees (for the university system) from the Governor to the legislature, so if this hasn't already been challenged I would assume it would be at some point.

3. Lawsuit challenging voter ID provision of 2013 reform voter suppression bill. With a new Democratic state supreme court majority, it's very possible that, regardless if SCOTUS reinstates the voter suppression measures overturned by the 4th circuit, the state supreme court could still rule the photo ID provision as violating the state constitution.

Federal

1. 2 lawsuits challenging the Congressional and legislative maps, respectively. It seems unlikely at this point that the special election/new map for the legislative districts will be held this year as SCOTUS has yet to rule on this and we are already basically at, over or near the deadline originally imposed by the court.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

What does the NC GOP do next?

[Virginiá]

From Richard Pildes over at ELB:

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Interesting to note for when other lawsuits against NCGOP tactics pop up, which I'm sure they inevitably will as Republicans, over the next couple years at least, try to neutralize Cooper's powers and suppress voting by Democrats.

One thing to note is that now, while Cooper/Democrats may have wrested back control of early voting plans and other state/local BOE matters, the NCGOP can still use their power in the legislature to pass new laws limiting early voting. After all, they do have a slim supermajority. I do expect them to try something before 2018's elections, but I also expect lawsuits as well. We will see.

[krazen1211]

What does the NC GOP do next?

There were 4 votes to hear the case on North Carolina commonsense voter ID. Soon there will be 5. Losers will get rolled.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

What does the NC GOP do next?

There were 4 votes to hear the case on North Carolina commonsense voter ID. Soon there will be 5. Losers will get rolled.

4 votes on what?

[krazen1211]

What does the NC GOP do next?

There were 4 votes to hear the case on North Carolina commonsense voter ID. Soon there will be 5. Losers will get rolled.

4 votes on what?

Well, in April 2016, the Federal Judge Thomas Schroeder upheld the commonsense voter ID and elections security law passed by the North Carolina legislature in 2013.

A couple months later, some riffraff on the Obama packed 4th circuit concocted some BS against North Carolina commonsense voter ID and used it to strike down the law that the North Carolina legislature passed. This BS was completely contrary to Crawford v Marion County!

The North Carolina Governor then appealed that decision to the Supreme Court, where it got 4 votes to hear the case. So it was not heard, at least then.  But times and Justices change. Even the ACLU said at the time that this will go to our soon to be MAGA Supreme Court!

[Virginiá]

Lawmakers revive plan for combined state elections, ethics board (aka NCGOP revive plan to shift control of the election and ethics board(s) from Cooper/Democrats)

http://www.wral.com/lawmakers-revive-plan-for-combined-state-elections-ethics-board/16625802/

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As detailed below, the board once again goes back to being evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, but with a majority vote being allowed for election-related matters. This still means a vote from a Republican that was effectively chosen by the NCGOP would be required to create early voting plans, and that almost surely means they will block anything resembling a decent plan in areas where they are needed.

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As usual for the NCGOP, the bill was negotiated entirely in secret between the GOP caucus and then rammed through once they were ready with no input from anyone else.

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[Ebsy]

Won't Cooper just veto?

[Virginiá]

Won't Cooper just veto?

The NCGOP has a veto-proof majority in the legislature, with their state House majority being just a few votes more. Almost every Republican in the House would have to vote for it, but they could do it. When it comes to things like this - gaming election law for their party, it is relatively common to see the entire caucus vote as a bloc, and that doesn't include the possibility you get a few turncoat Democrats who might feel justified in selling out their own party if a deal was sweet enough.

We'll see how it plays out. The NCGOP loves proposing and then passing contentious bills in literally hours, so we could see where this goes probably within a week or less. My question is, even if it passes, will the state courts uphold it? There might be an argument that this "reform" would have the same result as the last one - depriving the Governor of true authority, as his choices are still limited to what the legislature wants, and thus still gives the legislature veto power over all the board's business. I mean, let's be honest here, a split election board, where the Republican members were chosen from a list made by the state party, is going to carry out the original intention of the NCGOP: obstruct any favorable early voting plans/other decisions.

[Babeuf]

Won't Cooper just veto?

The GOP has supermajorities in both houses and could override the veto.

[Virginiá]

NC residents and Common Cause accuse lawmakers of holding illegal session

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article145578589.html

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I've been waiting for this one. While a number of the laws passed have been since overturned (the election/ethic board power grab and the bill severely cutting the number of appointments the Governor may make), there are still a number of other provisions/bills that could be overturned if this lawsuit was successfully. The NCGOP's provisions curtailing the NC court system's ability to handle gerrymandering lawsuits is one of them.

It would have been even better if they had filed this lawsuit next year so that in the event it is successful, it might be possible that NC Republicans lose their supermajority and find themselves unable to pass the laws again over Cooper's veto.

[Virginiá]

Lawmakers revive plan for combined state elections, ethics board (aka NCGOP revive plan to shift control of the election and ethics board(s) from Cooper/Democrats)

http://www.wral.com/lawmakers-revive-plan-for-combined-state-elections-ethics-board/16625802/

So Republicans in the legislature overrode Cooper's veto and passed their new election boards changes, and a judicial panel put the changes on hold at least until a hearing on May 10th.

I'm wondering whether or not requiring the Governor to pick only names submitted by the legislature still violates the separation of powers outlined the state constitution (the basis of the last ruling by the courts regarding the election board changes). I also wonder if the NCGOP is ever going to stop trying to seize control of the elections board, or if they plan to keep ramming through bills until something passes judicial muster. Possibly requiring elections board members to get confirmation from the state senate, and then just deny everyone who is a Democrat?

[Virginiá]

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article146781374.html

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Kind of funny because it was Republicans who changed the ballot order to have the Governor's party listed first. They did this a few years ago, and now that a Democrat won the office, they are changing it right back. The fact that they feel so free to change the rules so often like this is kind of jarring. They don't care how transparent these actions look, and my bet is they'd have no qualms about making the Governor's party go first again as soon as they win back the office, and then take it away as soon as a Democrat wins again.


And then there is this:

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article146702074.html

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While the judicial elections are partisan, something rubs me the wrong way about having a law that mandates that state parties get to pick the judges to fill vacancies until the next election.