North Carolina Court Upholds Governor's Control Over Election Board

A North Carolina three-judge panel has ruled that recent legislative changes transferring the power to appoint members of the State Board of Elections from the governor to the Republican state auditor are unconstitutional. The court affirmed that the North Carolina Constitution vests the governor with the authority to execute the law, including appointments to the elections board, a practice established for over a century. This decision strikes down Senate Bill 382, the latest in a series of Republican-led efforts to diminish the governor's influence over election administration, all of which have been previously blocked by courts or voters. Governor Josh Stein, who successfully challenged the law, celebrated the ruling as an affirmation of voters’ intent and the separation of powers. Republican lawmakers argued the governor had too much control, but the court found their attempts to reassign these duties as partisan power grabs violating constitutional principles. The ruling marks another judicial rebuke of legislative attempts to shift election oversight away from the executive branch.