RALEIGH, NC — Governor-elect Roy Cooper announced Friday that actions are being taken against the NC Legislature in response to Senate Bill 4.
In a release sent out by Cooper’s transition team, it says that the Governor-elect has asked a judge to stop the abolishment of the State Board of Elections scheduled to take place on January 1st.
“This complex new law passed in just two days by the Republican legislature is unconstitutional and anything but bipartisan. A tie on a partisan vote would accomplish what many Republicans want: making it harder for North Carolinians to vote. It will result in elections with longer lines, reduced early voting, fewer voting places, little enforcement of campaign finance laws, indecision by officials and mass confusion,” said Governor-elect Cooper.
Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) responded to the Governor-elect’s actions by releasing the following statement:
“Given the recent weeks-long uncertainty surrounding his own election, the governor-elect should understand better than anyone why North Carolinians deserve a system they can trust will settle election outcomes fairly and without the taint of partisanship. Roy Cooper’s effort to stop the creation of a bipartisan board with an equal number of Democrats and Republicans to enforce elections and ethics laws may serve his desire to preserve his own political power, but it does not serve the best interests of our state.”
Cooper will be sworn in as the 75th Governor of NC shortly after midnight on January 1st, with a public inauguration scheduled for January 7th.
