By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s Republican state auditor made appointments to a new State Board of Elections on Thursday, the day after an appeals court agreed a law shifting that power otherwise held by the Democratic governor could still be enforced while the measure’s constitutionality is appealed.
Auditor Dave Boliek announced three members — all proposed by the state Republican Party chairman — to the five-member board.
Two remain reserved for choices from the state Democratic Party, but Boliek said he had not received a slate of candidates from the Democratic chair. That is not surprising because Democrats and Stein are strongly opposed to the law finalized in December by the Republican-controlled General Assembly. Stein sued to overturn the law and stop its enforcement. Trial judges just last week sided with Stein and declared that stripping him of the board appointment authority was unconstitutional.
But Boliek, who was elected last fall to the post, went ahead with appointments after the intermediate-level Court of Appeals on Wednesday said the appointment switch could be carried out while broader legal questions are reviewed on appeal.
Stein asked the state Supreme Court late Wednesday to suspend the unanimous ruling of the three Court of Appeals judges and keep blocking the law. The justices had not ruled on that matter as of midday Thursday.
The appointments if upheld could mark a dramatic change in election administration in the battleground state. For over a century, the governor has picked the five board members, three of whom are traditionally members of the governor’s party. With Boliek the auditor, Republicans would now assume a majority on the board, whose duties include carrying out campaign finance laws, certifying election results and setting rules on voting administration details.
The law containing the board appointment changes said the terms of the five most recent members, which were otherwise supposed to continue until 2027, expired Wednesday and that new members would be appointed to four-year terms that would begin Thursday.
Boliek’s appointments are a political victory for the GOP, which since late 2016 has sought to erode or eliminate a governor’s authority to appoint the board. Four previous laws targeting then-Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper were blocked by courts. Voters in 2018 also rejected a constitutional amendment that would have forced the governor to pick members recommended by legislative leaders.
Republicans have complained that a governor has too much control over elections, resulting in one-party decision-making and a lack of voter confidence. But Democrats say the laws are a GOP power grab designed to give Republicans an unfair advantage in elections.
The board’s importance has been apparent in the still-unresolved November election for a state Supreme Court seat between Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs and Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin, himself a Court of Appeals judge.
Stein said Wednesday after the Court of Appeals ruling that he feared the appointment changes would help Republicans succeed at helping Griffin win the seat. The current tally has Riggs slightly ahead.
Boliek appointed on Thursday Stacy “Four” Eggers, who served on the most recent board; former state Sen. Bob Rucho; and Francis De Luca, former president of a conservative think tank.
“We need full confidence in our elections, and I’d like to thank these individuals for their willingness to serve,” Boliek said in a press release.
Lawyers for Stein argue the appointment transfer unlawfully interfered with the governor’s responsibility in the state constitution to take care that laws were “faithfully executed.” Two of three trial judges hearing the lawsuit sided April 23 with Stein. Their order also blocked a power transfer that would direct Boliek in June to choose the chairs of county election boards. But the appeals court decision set aside that judgment.
Legislative leaders said the appointments transfer was lawful, arguing the state constitution allows the General Assembly to disperse executive branch powers to carry out laws to other statewide elected officials like the auditor.
The Court of Appeals ruling favoring Republican lawmakers neither provided reasons for the judges’ ruling nor identified the judges who ruled. In such matters, the court releases their names after 90 days.