RALEIGH — Two of Robeson County’s delegates to the General Assembly voted Thursday to override the governor’s veto of legislation that would keep campaign finance investigations confidential and allow the GOP to possibly dump their nominee in a still-undecided U.S. House race marred by ballot fraud allegations.
The override would require new primaries and a general election in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District if the ongoing state elections board investigation into suspected ballot fraud forces new voting.
Sen. Danny Britt Jr. and Rep. Brenden Jones, both Republicans, both said they voted to override the veto because there was nothing wrong with the original legislation.
Jones, of Tabor City, said he voted in favor of the legislation and held his ground with his vote to override the veto of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
“I try not to change my vote a whole lot,” he said. “This bill had unanimous bipartisan support the first time.”
The legislation was fine the way it, Jones said.
“He (Cooper) did this out of sheer spite and party politics,” Jones said.
Britt, of Lumberton, said the bill didn’t change so he didn’t change his vote and concurred with Jones that party politics were at play.
“It didn’t have anything with the substance of the law,” he said.
Democratic Rep. Charles Graham, of Lumberton, was unavailable for comment.
The elections board is scrutinizing mail-in absentee ballots in the District 9 race, where Republican Mark Harris leads Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes. The new law means both could be forced to compete for their parties’ nominations again.
Cooper said this past week he vetoed the measure because it would also force the state elections board to keep its campaign finance investigations confidential and have a separate commission secretly review whether prosecutors are notified.
“We know that we live in a period of time where the public is asking for its politicians to have an increased level of transparency. They want to know more about what goes on in our business than they ever have before,” said Rep. Graig Meyer, an Orange County Democrat.
Republican State Rep. Sarah Stevens countered that the legislation doesn’t shield politicians any more than other criminal investigations that aren’t disclosed until evidence supports charges.
“People ought to be able to have the opportunity to offer their side before it simply is made public on someone’s allegation,” she said. “It’s just about giving a little time to give everything a fair treatment. This is not about covering up something.”
After overriding the election bill and a second measure that reaffirms the ability of four Charlotte-area municipalities to run their own charter schools, the Republican-dominated General Assembly then closed its two-year session. The GOP holds veto-proof majorities in both chambers until Monday.
The election law’s multiple provisions also ends a two-year power struggle between Cooper and GOP legislators over elections board control. In 2016, the Legislature voted to upend a law that for a century had given the governor and his or her political party the majority on local and state boards that oversee elections. Cooper sued and eventually won. The legislation largely returns elections, ethics enforcement and lobbyist reporting to how they were before Republican lawmakers changed them just before Cooper took office.
Though the elections board investigates potential crimes involving election laws, it doesn’t have the power to take a case to court and must instead provide its findings to federal or state prosecutors. They can elect to pursue criminal charges or drop a case, often without explanation.
Despite that, several North Carolina politicians have served prison time for hiding who was financing their elections or for using donations as their personal piggy banks. Former state Sen. Fletcher Hartsell was sentenced to eight months in prison last year because the 26-year Republican lawmaker spent more than $200,000 in campaign funds on vacations, speeding tickets, haircuts and theater tickets.
The state elections board opened nearly 100 campaign finance cases this year and continued to investigate additional cases from previous years, spokesman Pat Gannon said. Only one was referred to criminal prosecutors.
In October, the elections board provided the Mecklenburg County district attorney with findings that Democratic Rep. Rodney Moore of Charlotte and his campaign didn’t report and may have tried to hide more than $140,000 he received or spent.
Further investigations like this may be stalled after a three-judge panel overseeing a lawsuit challenging the current makeup of the North Carolina State Board of Elections issued a new ruling Thursday effectively dissolving the board at noon on Friday, according to reports.
The panel issued a ruling denying a request to further delay an order requiring the board to dissolve. The order was originally issued on Oct. 16 but the ruling was stayed through early December to allow the current state board of elections to administer the 2018 general election.