Judges to keep North Carolina election law blocked
Source: Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A law North Carolina Republicans approved reducing the new Democratic governor's election oversight powers won't be enforced until the governor's legal challenge to it is resolved, state judges decided Thursday.
A panel of trial court judges is granting the request by Gov. Roy Cooper to extend a temporary 10-day block on the law, which Cooper argues is unconstitutional by shifting appointment powers from him to legislative leaders. Word of the decision came from a court administrator writing on the judges' behalf to lawyers who held oral arguments before the panel earlier Thursday.
Cooper had sued GOP legislative leaders just before his New Year's Day swearing-in, challenging a law the General Assembly approved in a surprise special session barely a week after Republican incumbent Pat McCrory conceded to Cooper in their close race.
Barring any appeals, the incremental victory for Cooper keeps separate the State Board of Elections and the State Ethics Commission and halts what his allies considered an illegal power grab by Republicans. But GOP legislators said the blocked law would promote bipartisanship in carrying out elections.
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Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/22fe6d59dea94745a10d608d8c26ce8e/new-north-carolina-governor-legislators-back-court
By GARY D. ROBERTSON
Jan. 5, 2017 7:44 PM EST
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