North Carolina House Republicans are moving a bill that would curb Gov. Josh Stein’s ability to appoint new district attorneys, calling a last-minute committee hearing Tuesday to advance the legislation.
Under current law, Stein, a Democrat, can fill any district attorney vacancy with the candidate of his choice. House Bill 478 would require Stein to select a candidate from a list of three provided by the political party with which the previous DA was affiliated.
Republicans scheduled the hearing of the election law committee less than an hour before it began, and did not publicly distribute an amended copy of the bill beforehand. Democrats objected to both the last-minute hearing and the bill itself, which they argued was unconstitutional.
Discussion of the bill comes as similar restrictions to Stein’s appointment powers are being litigated. A Republican-crafted law passed last year limits who the governor can appoint to fill vacancies on both appellate courts and the state board of elections.
The GOP has tried several times since 2016 to remove the governor’s authority to choose members of the election board, whose duties include carrying out campaign finance laws, certifying election results, and setting rules on a host of voting administration details.
Stein called the legislation a “threat to democracy,” suing to block both sections of the bill. Both suits are pending in state courts, but in the meantime, the North Carolina State Board of Elections is under new Republican leadership.
The board had its first meeting with appointees on Wednesday. During Wednesday’s meeting, Sam Hayes– General Counsel for NC House Speaker Destin Hall– was appointed as Executive Director. The decision ousted Karen Brinson Bell, who has been the Executive Director of the board since 2019.
Brinson Bell received high marks from colleagues for helping administer elections during the pandemic. She also oversaw the effort to hold the 2024 presidential election after Hurricane Helene laid waste to numerous counties. Nonetheless, election officials managed to open nearly all of the 80 voting sites in impacted areas on the first day of early in-person voting.
David Becker, a former U.S. Justice Department lawyer who now leads the Center for Election Innovation & Research, said the GOP’s “highly partisan power grab” has “resulted in the removal of one of the most highly respected election officials in the country.”
While she was not allowed to speak during the meeting, Brinson Bell stayed afterward and addressed the audience and the two Democratic members of the election board, who remained after their GOP colleagues had left.
“We have done this work under incredibly difficult circumstances and in a toxic political environment,” she said, adding that she hoped election workers are “supported and rewarded for their work rather than vilified by those who don’t like the outcome.”
