In a major win for Republicans as the 2026 midterms approach, a shift in political control of North Carolina’s elections administration can remain in place, the state’s second-highest court ruled earlier this month.
In a 2-1 ruling along party lines, the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that the 2024 scheme from state legislative Republicans to transfer power from the Democratic governor to the Republican state auditor did not violate the state’s constitution. The 2024 law was Republicans’ latest attempt at seizing power from the Governor, after multiple previous attempts had been ruled unconstitutional and even rejected by voters at the ballot box.
The ruling means that the now Republican-led Board of Elections can continue to implement restrictions on voting that make it harder for people, and especially people of color, to exercise their right to vote.
Since taking over power of the Board, Republicans have adopted restrictions on absentee ballots, made it easier to throw out votes, and refused to place an early voting site at the nation’s largest historically Black college, despite repeated student requests.
North Carolina Governor Josh Stein said he would challenge the ruling, though the state’s highest Court is also controlled by Republicans. “Voting is the fundamental right that underpins all other rights,” Stein said in a written statement. “It is how North Carolinians make sure government works for them. I will appeal today’s divided ruling and continue to protect the independence of our elections so that every North Carolinian who casts a ballot knows their vote will count.”
The lone Democrat on the appellate court ruling, Judge John Arrowood, dissented and chided his colleagues for willfully ignoring the political realities of the case.
“Despite its design as a bipartisan entity, actions taken by the newly constituted State Board… suggest a potential purpose for the change was to interject political interference into the manner in which elections are conducted, rather than to execute the election laws free from political influence and interference,” Arrowood wrote.
