Four N.C. House Republicans have filed a bill that would block the state attorney general from settling lawsuits involving legislative leaders, unless those leaders sign off on the deals. House Bill 606 arrives roughly three weeks after a similar Senate bill with the same title: Prohibit Collusive Settlements by the AG. A key Senate committee...
Republican lawmakers are pushing forward two election-reform bills designed to shore up voting integrity following the 2020 general election debacle that included numerous accusations of fraud. Sen. Paul Newton, R-Cabarrus, talked through the two bills at a news conference and in the N.C. Senate Elections Committee on Wednesday, March 31. “There is a tension between...
Republican senators have introduced a bill that would require lawmakers to sign off on any deal settling a lawsuit in which the legislature is a party. The move, Senate Bill 360, Prohibit Collusive Settlements by the Attorney General, prevents state agencies from circumventing the lawmaking process and changing laws through settlements with friendly plaintiffs, a...
Republican lawmakers grilled State Board of Elections Director Karen Brinson Bell over her handling of the 2020 election in a testy back-and-forth hearing. The over two-hour hearing Tuesday, March 23, before the N.C. Senate Elections Committee hinged on one central question: Did Brinson Bell, a registered Democrat, change election law after voting began last year....
The N.C. Senate is summoning the director of the State Board of Elections to answer questions about a controversial settlement she negotiated that upended voting rules just weeks before November’s election. Karen Brinson Bell is expected to appear before the Senate Elections Committee 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 23. The questioning stems from a lawsuit brought...
With new U.S. Census data not expected until September, the State Board of Elections is recommending moving all of this year’s municipal elections to 2022. Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell also told the elections board Tuesday, Feb. 23, she recommends delaying the 2022 primary elections from March until May. The changes would need to be...
The day after the state announced a settlement with Democratic super-litigator Marc Elias likely gutting absentee ballot protections, the State Board of Elections’ two Republican members resigned. They suggested they were tricked into going along with a plan to let the board’s director negotiate settlements out of court. Members David Black and Ken Raymond separately...
Each week, staff at Carolina Journal looks back at the week in N.C. politics and chooses several interesting, relevant stories you may have missed. Here’s this week’s review: Mini budgets: Bite-sized budgets are once again moving through the General Assembly. The Senate passed three of these bills on June 2, which included money for the...
The State Board of Elections said cybersecurity worries prompted a delay in certifying election system vendors to sell voting machines to counties. In her first state board meeting Thursday, June 13, new Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell urged the board to require vendors seeking certification to disclose all ownership interests of 5% or greater. After...
The State Board of Elections ousted Executive Director Kim Strach Monday, May 13, on a party line vote, naming Karen Brinson Bell of Charleston, South Carolina, to replace Strach effective June 1. Strach served six of her 19 years with the state board as executive director, having built a reputation as an intrepid investigator on...
