A split decision by the North Carolina Supreme Court on Friday allowed a new law to take effect that shifts the power to appoint State Board of Elections members from the Democratic governor to the Republican state auditor, even as the law’s legality is still being debated.
The court’s Republican majority rejected Gov. Josh Stein’s efforts to temporarily block the law, which was passed last year by the GOP-led General Assembly and gives appointment authority to State Auditor Dave Boliek.
In late April, trial judges had ruled the law unconstitutional and said it shouldn’t be enforced. But the next day, April 30, a panel from the state Court of Appeals said the law could still be put into effect while the legal battle continued.
Later that same day, Stein’s lawyers asked the state Supreme Court to step in and stop the law. But the justices remained silent until now, effectively giving a win to Republican lawmakers who have long wanted to remove the governor’s control over the board.
Boliek went ahead with the appointments on May 1, which changed the board from a Democratic to a Republican majority. This broke with a system that had been in place for over 100 years, where governors picked board members, including three from their own party. The new board then removed Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell.
Responding to Stein’s motions, the unsigned ruling issued Friday — backed by the court’s five Republican justices — said the Court of Appeals had valid reasons for allowing the law to go into effect and that the trial judges wrongly applied previous Supreme Court rulings. The order stated that past decisions didn’t determine whether transferring such powers to another executive official, like the auditor, was unconstitutional.
Dave Boliek talks to the authorThe court said the Court of Appeals decision “was not manifestly unsupported by reason or so arbitrary that it could not have been the result of a reasoned decision.”
Justice Richard Dietz, a Republican, wrote separately that the court could no longer step in effectively because the board had already been seated and was hiring new staff. “The status quo has changed,” he said. “It would create quite a mess to try to unring that bell through our own extraordinary writ.”
Next, Stein and GOP lawmakers will present arguments through the usual appeals process, which will likely take months. Meanwhile, the new board will continue its work, such as overseeing campaign finance laws, setting rules for voting, and preparing for the 2026 midterm elections.
Justice Anita Earls, one of two Democrats on the court, criticized the GOP majority for its delay in responding and accused it of appearing to side with lawmakers on the bigger constitutional questions.
Justice Allison Riggs, the other Democrat, pointed out that the Court of Appeals gave no explanation for its April 30 order and said the Supreme Court majority was now trying to justify that silence. She said the ruling disrupts a 125-year tradition for how North Carolina’s elections board is formed, all while the legal process is still ongoing.
Friday’s decision also allows another part of the law to move forward, giving Boliek the power to select chairs for the state’s 100 county election boards starting in late June.
