North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, appears at a political event in October, 2023. Cooper sued the Republican majority North Carolina State General Assembly over its decision to pass several laws over Cooper’s veto that strip the governor of the power to appoint members of various boards including the Board of Elections. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker).
Democratic Governor Roy Cooper sued his own state of North Carolina, along with Republican legislative leaders Tuesday, claiming that they have demonstrated a Tolkienesque obsession with power.
In a 19-page complaint, Cooper alleged that the Tar Heel State, House Speaker Tim Moore, Senate leader Phil Berger, and the North Carolina General Assembly violated constitutional separation of powers by illegally restricting the authority of the governor.
Cooper’s language likening conservative legislators to the single-minded ring-seeking character from “The Lord of the Rings” was particularly descriptive.
“Like Gollum reaching for the One Ring, legislative defendants are possessed by the power it brings,” said Cooper. “When it comes to seizing control of the enforcement of the state’s election laws, neither the clear rulings of the Supreme Court, nor the overwhelming vote of the people, will deter them.”
Cooper, just the latest official to raise the issue of election interference in North Carolina, said that the general assembly stripped the governor of his appointment power, then bestowed that power onto the legislature via various bodies such as Board of Transportation and the Utilities Commission. The legislature overrode five of Cooper’s vetoes last week, including one to enact Session Law 2023-139, which Cooper predicts will “cripple the State Board of Elections” by removing his power to appoint board members.
Prior to the change, North Carolina law empowered governors to appoint all five state board members based on recommendations from the major parties and allowed the incumbent party three board seats. The change increases to a board of eight members split equally between those appointed by Republican and Democratic legislative leaders.
In 2018, Republicans placed the same proposal for an eight-member board on the ballot, but it was squarely rejected by voters. Also in 2018, the North Carolina Supreme Court rejected an attempt to create an even-numbered elections board.
Switching from fantasy references to baseball metaphors, Cooper slammed legislators’ third try at creating an eight-member board in his complaint:
Disregarding the North Carolina Supreme Court (strike one) and the people of North Carolina (strike two), the General Assembly has once again swung and missed in its attempt to exert unconstitutional control over the execution of the laws relating to elections. Defendants’ third strike should be their last.
“The deadlocks that will be created on these new Boards of Elections at the state and local levels likely will reduce early voting and create longer lines at the polls. It will also undermine fair elections and faith in our democracy by sending disputes to our highly partisan legislature and courts,” Cooper commented in a statement. “Both the courts and the people have rejected this bad idea and the meaning of our Constitution doesn’t change just because the Supreme Court has new Justices. The Supreme Court should accept the clear precedent and the clear voice of the people and reject the Legislature’s latest attempt to control the election process.”
Cooper contends that the North Carolina Board of Elections is an executive branch agency whose function is unrelated to legislating. As such, he asks the court to strike down the law as violative of separation of powers.
You can read the full complaint here.
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