Tag Archives: Election

North Carolina redistricting trial begins, with racial gerrymandering allegations the focus

North Carolina redistricting trial begins, with racial gerrymandering allegations the focus

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina congressional and legislative districts drawn by Republicans in 2023 that helped them retain majorities in Raleigh and Washington are in court. A trial began Monday in two federal lawsuits filed by voters and advocacy groups that accuse mapmakers of illegally eroding Black voting power while enacting lines that aided GOP electoral prospects. The lawsuits claim that lines are so skewed that many Black voters lack the ability to elect their preferred candidates. Republicans counter that they used no race-based data in developing the plans. The trial won’t end until next month. North Carolina has a long history of redistricting litigation and related landmark decisions.… Continue Reading

Justice Department’s early moves on voting and elections signal a shift from its traditional role

Justice Department’s early moves on voting and elections signal a shift from its traditional role

ATLANTA (AP) — The Trump administration’s Justice Department has begun targeting Democratic and presidential swing states with demands for election data or changes to voter registration procedures. While the requests may seem technical and mundane, collectively they suggest the department is moving away from its traditional stance of protecting access to the ballot box. Instead, the actions address concerns that have been raised by a host of conservative activists following years of false claims surrounding elections in the U.S. By targeting certain states — presidential battlegrounds or those controlled by Democrats — they also could be foreshadowing an expanded role for the department in future elections.… Continue Reading

Trump administration sues North Carolina over its voter registration records

Trump administration sues North Carolina over its voter registration records

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Trump administration has accused North Carolina’s election board of violating federal law by failing to ensure that registration records of some applicants contained identifying numbers. It wants a judge to force board officials to create a prompt method to obtain such numbers. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division sued in federal court on Tuesday alleging violations of the Help America Vote Act. The lawsuit is about the collection of a registrant’s driver’s license number or partial Social Security number. The department says it’s carrying out a recent executive order from President Donald Trump on elections. Registrant records were also an issue in a state Supreme Court race last year.… Continue Reading

North Carolina’s high court says elections board shift can continue while appeals carry on

North Carolina’s high court says elections board shift can continue while appeals carry on

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina Supreme Court has confirmed it was OK for a new law that shifted the power to appoint State Board of Elections members away from the Democratic governor to start being enforced earlier this month. The court’s Republican majority declined or dismissed requests Friday that Gov. Josh Stein made three weeks ago to block for now the enforcement of the Republican law shifting authority to State Auditor Dave Boliek while Stein seeks to overturn it. But the court didn’t immediately act, so Boliek made his appointments May 1. The old Democratic-majority board now has a Republican majority. Appeals over the law’s constitutionality can continue.… Continue Reading

House Republicans pass Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and program cuts after all-night session

House Republicans pass Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and program cuts after all-night session

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans stayed up all night to pass their multitrillion-dollar tax breaks package. Speaker Mike Johnson defied the skeptics within his ranks and muscled President Donald Trump’s priority bill to approval Thursday. Last-minute concessions and a stern warning from Trump appeared to win over the hold outs to salvage what he calls the “big, beautiful bill.” The outcome caps an intense time on Capitol Hill, with days of private negotiations and public committee hearings. Democrats, without the votes to stop Trump’s package, tried to stall it. The Congressional Budget Office says the tax provisions would add $3.8 trillion to federal deficits.… Continue Reading

North Carolina justice sworn in after long battle over result

North Carolina justice sworn in after long battle over result

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Democratic Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs has been sworn in to a new term after her Republican rival challenged the results over six months. Riggs took her oath Tuesday in Raleigh shortly after the State Board of Elections issued an election certificate to her. The board was complying with a federal judge who last week rejected Jefferson Griffin’s arguments that potentially thousands of ballots should be removed from the count. Griffin conceded rather than appeal. Riggs won by 734 votes. The race was the last undecided nationally among those called by The Associated Press in the 2024 general election.… Continue Reading

The election director in North Carolina, a key swing state, is ousted after a Republican power play

The election director in North Carolina, a key swing state, is ousted after a Republican power play

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s elections board has ousted the agency’s executive director after Republicans gained control. The State Board of Elections on Wednesday replaced executive director Karen Brinson Bell with Sam Hayes, the top lawyer for the GOP’s House speaker. Brinson Bell has been widely praised in election circles nationwide for her performance as executive director for nearly six years. The board’s composition got altered just last week through a state law enacted late last year by Republican lawmakers that stripped the Democratic governor of his appointment power and gave it to the Republican state auditor. The law got implemented even though trial judges struck it down as unconstitutional just two weeks ago.… Continue Reading

Republican concedes long-unsettled North Carolina court election to Democratic incumbent

Republican concedes long-unsettled North Carolina court election to Democratic incumbent

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Republican challenger for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat has conceded last November’s election to the Democratic incumbent. Jefferson Griffin said in a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday that he would not appeal a federal judge’s decision favoring Associate Justice Allison Riggs. Griffin’s decision sets the stage for Riggs to be officially elected to an eight-year term as an associate justice. It would end the nation’s last undecided race from the 2024 general election. The federal judge said disputed ballots challenged by Griffin must remain in the final tally and ordered results to be certified to show Riggs is the winner by 734 votes.… Continue Reading

North Carolina auditor names elections board members after judges let law stand during appeal

North Carolina auditor names elections board members after judges let law stand during appeal

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s Republican state auditor has started making appointments to a new State Board of Elections because an appeals court said a law can still be enforced while it is challenged by Democratic Gov. Josh Stein. Auditor Dave Boliek announced on Thursday three Republicans to the five-member board. Democrats led by Stein oppose the law, which takes away the board appointment power that a governor has held under state law going back over a century. The state Court of Appeals ruled on Wednesday the appointment switch enacted by Republicans could be carried out while broader legal questions are reviewed.… Continue Reading

US election officials question agency about Trump’s order overhauling election operations

US election officials question agency about Trump’s order overhauling election operations

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — State and local election officials from around the country in North Carolina have questioned the leaders of a federal agency tasked by President Donald Trump with implementing parts of his sweeping election overhaul executive order, with some expressing concerns about the consequences for voters and the people in charge of voting. Whether the Republican president can order an independent agency to act and whether the commission has the authority to do what Trump wants will likely be settled in court. The commission is an independent federal agency and is at the center of Trump’s March 25 order that directs the commission to update the national voter registration form to include a proof-of-citizenship requirement and revise guidelines for voting systems.… Continue Reading

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