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NC law could trigger second primary if Senate District 26 race ends in a tie
Razor-thin NC Senate District 26 GOP primary highlights state law requiring second primary if candidates finish in a tie.
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Judge strikes order saying NC elections board violated own rules
A day after issuing a ruling that the North Carolina State Board of Elections violated its own rules and must conduct a new hearing into local elections board members, an administrative law judge issued a new order striking her own ruling.
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Boliek launches commission to modernize election data systems
NC State Auditor Dave Boliek announced a new bipartisan, 22-member Modernization of Election Data Systems Commission to help modernize NCs election management system.
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Medicaid transformation deadline looms, but will lawmakers act?
A big change to the state Medicaid program remains unfunded, increasing the risk of costly delays in Medicaid transformation. The legislature adjourned without passing funding for Medicaid managed care — a transformation that will privatize Medicaid by paying managed care companies $30 billion over five years to cover 1.6 million low-income North Carolinians. When the...
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Elections board to vote Aug. 23 on vendor certification
Voting system approval in North Carolina is in for yet another delay. In a split vote, Thursday, Aug. 1, the State Board of Elections reaffirmed its decision to delay approving new voting machines until the board adopts new certification requirements. The delay has some board members worried about getting new election machines in place in...
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Durham-Orange Light Rail project is dead
In a major blow to proponents of light rail, the GoTriangle Board of Trustees voted unanimously Wednesday, March 27, to end the Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit project. The $2.7-billion project would have included a nearly 18-mile railway connecting UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill with Duke University, but significant setbacks and obstacles killed the plan. “Unfortunately,...
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Medicaid expansion? Not quite dead, former NCGA counsel suggests
Reports of Medicaid expansion’s death in this legislative session might be greatly exaggerated. At least that’s the view of Gerry Cohen, former special counsel to the General Assembly, who thinks a possible procedural faux pas by freshman Sen. Kirk deViere, D-Cumberland, wasn’t a fatal flub. DeViere offered an amendment Wednesday, March 13, to add roughly...
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Scheduling a special election for the 3rd District could be tricky
Figuring out the logistics for a special election to fill the vacancy left by the passing of Rep. Walter Jones Jr., R-3rd District, won’t be easy, said Gerry Cohen, former special counsel to the General Assembly. North Carolina has its second congressional vacancy after Jones died Feb. 10. The 9th Congressional District is also without...
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Scooter company raises prices, blames Raleigh City Council
People in Raleigh who ride electric scooters will probably notice their trips costing more. Bird, which operates many of the e-scooters dotting downtown, has added a $2 transportation fee in response to recent City Council regulations. Last year, the Raleigh City Council decided to implement an annual $300 per e-scooter charge for any company that...
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Odds increase for new election in 9th District, experts suggest
The prospect Democrats will get their wish for a new election in the 9th Congressional District could be getting stronger. A growing body of news reports suggests coordinated election irregularities occurred in Bladen and Robeson counties, challenging last month’s narrow victory by Republican Mark Harris, a Baptist preacher. Harris defeated Democrat Dan McCready, a solar...
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Elections board recommends possible prosecution of Democratic Rep. Moore
State elections officials referred four-term state Rep. Rodney Moore, D-Mecklenburg, for investigation and possible prosecution, saying there was “clear and convincing evidence” he failed to report more than $141,000 in election campaign receipts and expenditures. The nine-member Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement voted unanimously Wednesday, Oct. 17, to ask the Mecklenburg County...
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Federal court throws out N.C. congressional maps, now what?
An Aug. 27 federal court ruling throwing out North Carolina’s congressional maps has added new complications to an unsettled election schedule. The decision adds another wrinkle to the state’s 2018 election. Over the course of 321 pages, a three-judge panel raised the prospect that state lawmakers might be forced to redraw congressional maps in the...
