RALEIGH, N.C. (CN) — A panel of three judges on Thursday blocked an election law passed by the North Carolina General Assembly that would have stripped Governor Roy Cooper of election board appointment power and given it to lawmakers.
The North Carolina Superior Court panel was unanimous in granting Cooper’s request for a preliminary injunction after around 90 minutes of arguments. Changes that were planned to go into effect Jan. 1, 2024, will be halted indefinitely unless a higher court intervenes.
Cooper, a Democrat, had vetoed the law, Senate Bill 749. The majority-Republican Assembly overturned Cooper’s veto and made it law in early October.
“Administering fair, secure elections is critical for our democracy and the courts have repeatedly found that partisan legislative attempts to take over the State Board of Elections are unconstitutional,” Cooper said Thursday on X, formerly Twitter.
In addition to giving legislative leaders the ability to fill Board of Elections positions, taking that power away from Cooper, the law increased the number of seats from five to eight — split evenly between Democrats and Republicans — which created concerns over deadlock on the board.
Cooper sued in mid-October to block the law, saying it displayed "flagrant disregard" for his constitutional duty to regulate the Board of Elections.
He also raised concerns that recent bills grant lawmakers “too much control” over a board with executive authority, violating the separation of power between the branches. Another law passed in the same override period, Senate Bill 512, took away Cooper’s appointment ability for various boards, including the Board of Transportation and the Utilities Commission.
Senate Democratic Leader Dan Blue and House Democratic Leader Robert Reives released a joint statement in favor of Thursday's ruling.
“The people’s faith in fair and free elections is at the heart of a thriving democracy,” Blue and Reives wrote. “We applaud the unanimous decision to block Republicans’ latest assault on our democratic process. The court’s clear rejection of the GOP’s attempted power grab is a win for voters and our state constitution.”
Superior Court Judge Edwin Wilson, a Democrat, served on the panel, as did Republican Judges Lori Hamilton and Andrew Womble. They were selected by State Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby, who assigns judges in constitutional cases.
The judges indicated that they would like to proceed with a trial early next year.
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