The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 14, 2024
Today’s Script
(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
A North Carolina appeals court struck down the state legislature’s new law removing the governor’s appointment power for election boards. And a decision in a South Carolina gerrymandering case from the U.S. Supreme Court may be released shortly.
Last year we reported on HB 749, removing the North Carolina governor’s power to appoint state and county election boards, and giving that authority to the legislature. The new law created a state election board with equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats, so likely deadlocks would mean few decisions and no accountability. Governor Roy Cooper vetoed the bill, but was overridden.
Democracy Docket reports that a three-judge appeals panel found HB 749 QUOTE “infringes upon the Governor’s constitutional duties” and was a “stark and blatant removal of appointment power from the Governor.”
We’re also awaiting a U.S. Supreme Court decision in a South Carolina racial gerrymandering case. The state legislature claims that when it moved two-thirds of Black voters from Congressional District 1 into District 6, it did so for partisan, not racial, reasons. Partisan gerrymandering was deemed by the court in 2019 to be a state issue, while racial gerrymandering is still subject to federal Voting Rights Act requirements. Siding with the legislature would likely mean a nationwide flood of racial gerrymandering by anti-voter legislatures, saying it was for partisan reasons.
We have details of both cases at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
American Democracy Minute – North Carolina Legislature Overrides Governor’s Vetoes of Voter Suppression and State Election Board Bills
Democracy Docket – North Carolina Court Strikes Down New Election Law That Would Strip Power From Democratic Governor
Scotus Blog – Justices question finding that S.C. district was unconstitutional racial gerrymander
BallotPedia – Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP
Groups Taking Action:
Voto Latino, Down Home North Carolina, North Carolina Black Alliance, Democracy North Carolina, North Carolina Voter, ACLU North Carolina, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, ACLU, Constitutional Accountability Center
Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!
Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org
Want ADM sent to your email? Sign up here!
Are you a radio station? Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX
#Democracy #DemocracyNews #NorthCarolinaPolitics #SouthCarolinaPolitics #Racial Gerrymandering #VotingRights #SCOTUS