The state Senate voted Monday night to go ahead with a plan to reconfigure oversight of elections in North Carolina despite a gubernatorial veto. The attempt at a veto override will next be taken up in the House. The Senate vote to override was along party lines, 33-15. Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the elections bill, Senate Bill 68, on Friday, along with House Bill 239, which would reduce the state Court of Appeals from 15 to 12 members.
SB 68 would merge the state elections and ethics boards and split the new board evenly between Republican and Democratic appointees. It would require the governor to choose members of the board from lists provided by the political parties. The governor’s party now controls the elections board.
The Democratic governor says the evenly split board would lead to gridlock, and said the bill was a repeat of legislation struck down in court.
Full Article: N.C. Senate overrides governor’s veto of elections/ethics boards merger | News & Observer.