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☆ North Carolina judges block GOP effort to reshape state’s election boards
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Fredreka Schouten | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —A bipartisan panel of judges in North Carolina has ruled that the Republican-controlled state legislature improperly tried to seize control of state and local election boards from Democratic Gov. The state Board of Elections, for instance, currently has three Democrats and two Republicans. Previous efforts by Republicans in the General Assembly to change the makeup of election boards have been rejected by the courts, and by voters in a 2018 referendum. Republican state lawmakers who pushed the change had argued that it would bring bipartisan balance to decision-making around elections. Several lawmakers had accused state election officials of reaching a “collusive settlement” with Democratic litigants to extend the deadline to count absentee ballots during the 2020 election.

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☆ A North Carolina gerrymandering effort could oust a Democratic lawmaker who wrote a bill to make it illegal for lawmakers to gerrymander
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

US Rep. Jeff Jackson, a Democrat, predicted he would be targeted by gerrymandering Republicans. Jackson earlier filed a bill to curtail gerrymandering when he was a North Carolina state lawmaker. First-term US Rep. Jeff Jackson, a Democrat from North Carolina, issued a warning to his constituents in a video last week, saying the redistricting process would be "brutal." In 2015, when he was a member of the state's senate, Jackson filed a bill to establish an independent redistricting commission in North Carolina to draw voting districts instead of the state's lawmakers. Reached for comment via email, the leader of the North Carolina General Assembly's Republican caucus, Rep. Jason Saine, only said that Jackson should "elaborate" on his claims.

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The 6-3 decision, authored by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, upheld a 2022 ruling by the North Carolina Supreme Court against the Republican legislators. Another state court replaced that map with one drawn by a bipartisan group of experts, and that one was in effect for the November 2022 elections. They contended that the state court usurped the North Carolina General Assembly's authority under that provision to regulate federal elections. The plaintiffs argued that the map violated the North Carolina state constitution's provisions concerning free elections and freedom of assembly, among others. Democratic President Joe Biden's administration argued against the Republican position when the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the case in December.

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☆ North Carolina House passes 12-week abortion ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

If the state Senate passes the bill on Thursday as expected, Democratic Governor Roy Cooper will almost certainly veto it. Under the North Carolina proposal, elective abortions after the first trimester would be banned except in instances of rape, incest, life-limiting fetal anomalies and medical emergencies. Key to the North Carolina House Republicans' veto-proof majority is former Democratic state Representative Tricia Cotham, who in April changed her party affiliation to Republican. Abortions in North Carolina rose by 37%, more than any other state, in the first two months after the Supreme Court revoked federal abortion rights in June 2022, according to a study by the Society of Family Planning, a nonprofit organization that promotes abortion rights and research. In the six months after the ruling, there were 3,978 monthly abortions on average in North Carolina, up 788 from the average in the two months beforehand, the society said.

Another state court then replaced that map with one drawn by a bipartisan group of experts. Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts wondered whether such broadly worded provisions provide proper "standards and guidelines" for state courts to apply. The Republican lawmakers argued that the state court usurped the North Carolina General Assembly's authority under that provision to regulate federal elections. Justice Brett Kavanaugh emphasized the "historical practice" that "nearly all state constitutions regulate federal elections in some way." David Thompson, arguing for the North Carolina lawmakers, said the Constitution "requires state legislatures specifically to perform the federal function of prescribing regulations for federal elections.

The position of others including Chief Justice John Roberts was harder to read, raising the possibility of a ruling less broad than the Republican state lawmakers pursuing the appeal seek. The Republican lawmakers are asking the Supreme Court to embrace a once-marginal legal theory that has gained favor among some conservatives called the "independent state legislature" doctrine. The Republican lawmakers have argued that the state court unconstitutionally usurped the North Carolina General Assembly's authority to regulate federal elections. Thompson also argued that state constitutions cannot impose substantive limits on the actions of legislatures on federal elections. A lower state court subsequently rejected the legislature's redrawn map and adopted one drawn by a bipartisan group of experts.

The Supreme Court's eventual decision, due by the end of June, could apply to 2024 elections including the U.S. presidential race. The Republican lawmakers have argued that the state court unconstitutionally usurped the North Carolina General Assembly's authority to regulate federal elections. Kagan noted that in a series of cases over the years the Supreme Court expressed that state courts had a role to play in this area. A lower state court subsequently rejected the legislature's redrawn map and adopted a new map drawn by a bipartisan group of experts. The Supreme Court in March declined a Republican request to put those lower court actions on hold.

The Republicans are asking the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, to embrace a once-marginal legal theory that has gained favor among some conservatives called the "independent state legislature" doctrine. The Supreme Court's eventual decision, due by the end of June, could apply to 2024 elections including the U.S. presidential race. The Republican lawmakers have argued that the state court unconstitutionally usurped the North Carolina General Assembly's authority to regulate federal elections. A lower state court subsequently rejected the legislature's redrawn map and adopted a new map drawn by a bipartisan group of experts. The Supreme Court in March declined a Republican request to put those lower court actions on hold.

Under this doctrine, they contend that the U.S. Constitution gives state legislatures, and not other entities such as state courts, power over election rules and electoral district maps. The Republican lawmakers have argued that the state court unconstitutionally usurped the North Carolina General Assembly's authority to regulate federal elections. 'CONFUSION AND CHAOS'Jason Snead, a conservative elections expert who embraces the doctrine, said the North Carolina case gives the Supreme Court an opportunity to "shut down a lot of the confusion and chaos" occurring around elections. The North Carolina Supreme Court struck down the map on Feb. 4, finding the districts were crafted to dilute the "fundamental right to equal voting power" of Democrats. A lower state court then rejected a redrawn map by Republican lawmakers and adopted one devised by a bipartisan group of experts.

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