North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein delivers his inaugural address at the Capitol Building in Raleigh on Jan. 11, 2025. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)
A panel of North Carolina judges struck down a new Republican-led law Wednesday that sought to move control of the state’s elections board under the control of the GOP state auditor — siding with Democratic Gov. Josh Stein and declaring the law unconstitutional.
Senate Bill 382, passed late last year, shifted a number of aspects of executive branch power within the state away from the incoming governor. Among those changes were steering control of the elections board — which is currently overseen by the governor and has a Democratic majority — to newly elected auditor Dave Boliek, a Republican.
Citing a series of prior rulings on executive power and elections board control, the Wake County Superior Court judges wrote that the law was unconstitutional and should be permanently enjoined.
“Because the duty to faithfully execute the laws has been exclusively assigned to the governor, Senate Bill 382 cannot reassign that duty to the auditor without violating the constitution,” wrote Judges Edwin G. Wilson, Jr., a Democrat, and Lori I. Hamilton, a Republican.
Judge R. Andrew Womble, a Republican, dissented from the pair’s ruling, writing that the legislature was “expressly authorized” to shift duties to the auditor.
In a statement Wednesday, Stein celebrated the ruling that declared “the legislature’s power grab unconstitutional.”
“The North Carolina Constitution puts the governor in charge of executing the law,” Stein said. “That’s what the voters elected me to do, so that’s what I’ll do.”
Stein has filed separate suits challenging other portions of the law, dealing with control of the state Highway Patrol and his power to make court appointments.
A spokesperson for the Board of Elections told NC Newsline in November 2024 that if the law were to take effect, it would likely result in control of the board changing hands, with a 3-2 Republican split.
The offices of Boliek, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ruling Wednesday.
Stein-Hall-Berger-SummaryJudgment4232025 Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Judges side with Stein in lawsuit over control of NC elections board, striking down GOP-led law )
Also on site :
- ‘Bullet Train Explosion’ Review: A Reality-Based Runaway Train Movie That Stays on the Rails
- What will the IMF and World Bank do in the latest economic crisis?
- Republican Nancy Mace fields concerns over university funding during South Carolina town hall