Talk about slimy. The North Carolina Republicans are acting like . . . like . . . well, they're acting just like the Democrats, to be honest.
Dems: It sucks to be you. Now you're beginning to understand how the last eight years were for Republicans. What's happening in NC would once have been considered outrageous and grossly unfair - but now it's just tit for tat. If it makes you feel any better, you brought this sort of treatment upon yourselves, didn't you?
North Carolina Republicans Lost An Election, So Now They’re Trying To Undermine The Results
They’ve proposed a pair of bills that could hobble the incoming governor and curtail voting rights in the state.
12/15/2016
WASHINGTON ― Fresh off losing control of the governor’s seat, North Carolina Republicans are now trying to undermine the election results through the state legislature by pushing bills that would limit the power of incoming Democratic Governor-elect Roy Cooper.
Cooper declared victory over Gov. Pat McCrory, the Republican incumbent, on Nov. 9, but McCrory would not concede, saying the race was too close to call since Cooper was ahead by slightly more than 4,300 votes. He then called for all provisional ballots to be counted, demanded a statewide recount and accused citizens of voter fraud before finally conceding the election to Cooper on Dec. 5.
But apparently, Cooper’s fight isn’t over. If passed, Senate Bill 4 and House Bill 17 would prevent the incoming governor from making certain Cabinet appointments, reduce the power of the State Board of Elections and change the way potentially unconstitutional bills are are legally challenged.
What’s perhaps more troubling is that the bills aren’t clear about what to do in certain common political scenarios.
Take the embattled State Board of Elections. Currently, the governor appoints all five board members. But under SB 4, there would be an executive director and eight board members ― four Democrats, four Republicans ― who would have the power to issue subpoenas and compel witnesses to testify. Cooper would be able to appoint four of the members, while two would be chosen by the state House and another two would be picked by the state Senate. County election boards would also shift from three members ― two currently appointed by the sitting governor ― to four members, evenly split along party lines.
SB 4 also mandates that six members of the State Board of Elections agree on a motion before taking any action. But the bill offers no guidance on what should happen if the board is evenly split or if five members agree.
“If you call an emergency meeting and only five people could attend, then you can take no action even though you have a quorum,” said state Rep. Darren Jackson, a Democrat. “This creates a board that will be frozen and unable to make decisions in any disputed case. I just don’t know how it would work.”
This lack of clarity could curtail voting rights ― an issue that frequently comes before the State Board of Elections.
On Election Day, the board voted to expand precinct hours in Democratic-leaning Durham County after there were technical issues with voter check-in machines that caused hour-long delays. The board also investigates voter fraud claims and handles protests of election results.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/roy-cooper-republicans-north-carolina_us_5852cadbe4b012849c05d4dc
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