NC House to vote on bill next week that would take power from gov. & AG

CHARLOTTE, NC — A power struggle is playing out inside the walls of the state capitol.

“Democrats have played this game. Republicans have played this game recently,” said Western Carolina political professor Chris Cooper.

That game Cooper is talking about is the redistribution of authority in North Carolina’s government.

“Really, a lot of things about the fundamental structure of government in our state are going to change,” explained Cooper.

Change will likely come next week when the state house votes on Senate Bill 382. The bill takes away the governor’s Board of Elections tiebreaker. Instead, it would go to the state auditor, the soon to be highest ranking republican in North Carolina.

“It’s unheard of so there’s a lot of different ways states structure their election systems, and none of them does the state auditor have the power over appointment,” said Cooper.

If the bill passes, it would also mean the attorney general must get approval from the general assembly before pursuing a lawsuit.

“It’s a lame duck period. There’s a huge change in the legislature. Again, I’m voting on these bills, and I’m not going to be in the legislature next year,” said democratic state rep Wesley Harris.

Harris represents southern Mecklenburg County. He believes this bill, which was pushed as a Hurricane Helene relief bill, is an example of dirty politics.

“You can’t really have a democracy that survives when you only accept the results when your party wins and you only don’t want to change the rules of the game once your party wins,” Harris said.

Cooper tells WCCB Charlotte this move isn’t new in North Carolina. Republicans did something similar in 2016 when governor Cooper took office. Democrats did it in the 80’s when republican Jim Martin became governor.

We reached out to auditor-elect Dave Boliek about his potential new role as head of elections in our state. He has not responded.