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General Assembly adjourns, setting record by overriding 22nd and 23rd vetoes of session

The 2017-18 session of the N.C. General Assembly wrapped up Thursday, setting a record by overriding the 22nd and 23rd vetoes of the biennium. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper set a record of his own by rejecting 28 items of legislation during his first two years in office. Cooper easily surpassed Democrat Bev Perdue, who vetoed...

Rick Henderson
News

State justices affirm legislature’s power to confirm governor’s appointments

The N.C. Supreme Court Friday closed one chapter in a two-year legal battle between Gov. Roy Cooper and the Republican-led General Assembly. The legislature prevailed. In Cooper v. Berger, the justices ruled the state Senate does have the authority to confirm the governor’s Cabinet appointments. The opinion, by Chief Justice Mark Martin, says the Senate’s...

CJ Staff
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Cooper vetoes elections board and technical corrections bills

As expected, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the General Assembly’s most recent attempt to restructure the state’s elections and ethics enforcement agencies. He also vetoed a “technical corrections” measure, rejecting two provisions in the catch-all legislation. The vetoes extend Cooper’s record. He has vetoed 28 bills since taking office in January 2017. The General Assembly...

CJ Staff
News

First lawsuits challenging voter ID legislation already in court

North Carolina’s new voter ID law is headed to court. This week the N.C. General Assembly overrode Gov. Roy Cooper’s Dec. 14 veto of Senate Bill 824, Implementation of Voter I.D. Constitutional Amendment. Now, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and the N.C. NAACP are suing over allegations of racial discrimination and burdens on voting...

Kari Travis

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House overrides Cooper veto; voter ID legislation becomes law

The N.C. House voted 72-40 Wednesday to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of Senate Bill 824, legislation implementing a constitutional amendment mandating voters present approved state-approved photo identification. The Senate’s vote Tuesday was 32-13, so the measure will become law. Debate in the House broke along partisan lines. Republicans argued that the legislation honored the...

CJ Staff
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Cooper threatens veto over elections board bill

Gov. Roy Cooper announced Tuesday, Dec. 18 he would veto a bill returning the Bipartisan Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement to separate agencies over concerns about a provision related to campaign finance investigations. But he would wait to issue the veto, hoping the legislature will pass a new version of the bill removing the...

Lindsay Marchello
News

Pipeline panel chairmen rebuff governor, saying he has no power to demand records

In North Carolina, the legislative branch oversees the operations of the executive branch. Not the other way around. That’s the message delivered by the Republican leaders of a legislative subcommittee probing Gov. Roy Cooper’s controversial $57.8-million Atlantic Coast Pipeline discretionary fund. Rep. Dean Arp, R-Union, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Brown, R-Onslow, Dec. 17 hand-delivered...

Dan Way
News

State elections board hearing on 9th Congressional District: Jan. 11

The Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement announced Friday it plans to hold an evidentiary hearing Jan. 11, 2019, on alleged ballot irregularities in the race for an open seat in 9th Congressional District. In the announcement, Board Chairman Joshua Malcolm said details about location and time would be released soon. The hearing...

CJ Staff
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Cooper vetoes voter ID bill; fate of elections board bill uncertain

As expected, Gov. Roy Cooper Friday vetoed Senate Bill 824, a measure implementing the voter identification requirement enacted in November by voters in a constitutional referendum. In his veto message, Cooper called the measure “sinister and cynical.” “It was designed to suppress the rights of minority, poor and elderly voters. The cost of disenfranchising those...

CJ Staff
News

Legislation restructuring elections/ethics boards turns back the clock

The nearly two-year battle over the Bipartisan Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement may come to a close soon with the General Assembly essentially handing Gov. Roy Cooper a victory in the separation-of-powers struggle. Lawmakers approved legislation Wednesday, Dec. 12, to return the elections and ethics boards to two separate agencies with the governor having...

Lindsay Marchello