A hard week for democracy in North Carolina | Opinion
In North Carolina, it has been a hard week for democracy.
Republican state lawmakers went into a lame-duck session to strip powers from the governor, the attorney general and other Democrats who were just elected statewide. They also approved a legislative takeover of election oversight and allowed billions of dollars for private school vouchers that most North Carolinians don’t want.
Those changes were pushed through in two days with virtually no notice to the public or to Democratic lawmakers.
Bob Phillips, executive director of North Carolina Common Cause, has watched the Republican majority slam legislation through for years. But even he was taken aback by the sweep and swiftness of the actions.
“The content is bad, but the process is equally bad,” he said. “We shouldn’t be surprised. They’ve done it before but it’s also like – ‘I can’t believe they’re doing it.’ ”
The actions displayed a brazen disregard not only for democratic traditions, but democracy itself.
Republicans say it’s the opposite – an expression of how democracy works. Elections have consequences, they say, and those who control the legislature can do as they wish.
But in North Carolina, the people aren’t making the choices in many legislative and congressional elections. Gerrymandering is.
Since taking control of the General Assembly in 2011, Republicans have used specialized computer software to draw precisely weighted districts that ensure them a majority, even a veto-proof majority.
The elections that follow don’t confirm their legitimacy; they show their lack of accountability.
Now the consequences of North Carolina’s egregious gerrymandering have spread to the nation.
Congressional district maps drawn by Republican lawmakers last year replaced nonpartisan maps drawn by court order for the 2022 election. The result this November was that a North Carolina U.S. House delegation split 7-7 – as it should be in a closely divided state – swung to 10-4 in favor of the Republicans. The three seats that Republicans gained may win them control of the U.S. House – and give President-elect Donald Trump whatever he wants from a Republican-led House and Senate.
Despite their grip on election outcomes, state Republicans are seeking even more control by raising doubts about the legitimacy of elections. This week’s legislation will sharply shorten the time to complete a final vote count. That supposedly would reduce the time for rigging elections, according to Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham. Actually, it will make it harder to count all votes.
It’s a mess in Raleigh and in Washington, where Trump is making a mockery of Cabinet nominations and focusing on retribution against those who challenged or offended him in his first term.
I asked Michael Gerhardt, a constitutional scholar at UNC-Chapel Hill, about what it means for democracy that Republicans can strip power from newly elected Democrats. He said it reflects “a mentality that is very difficult to reconcile with democracy because the Republican leaders don’t want to respect the results of a democratic election.”
At the state level, Republican lawmakers find cover in the Republican majority on the state Supreme Court. The court has allowed partisan gerrymandering and generally declined to challenge legislative actions.
That leaves those who want fair elections and transparent and responsive government discouraged and unable to respond. Given gerrymandering, it would take a tidal wave of Democratic votes to recapture a legislative majority. Meanwhile, the governor and other executive branch Democrats who win statewide elections that can’t be gerrymandered are being stripped of powers and the state’s highest court offers no recourse.
For now, and perhaps for years, those who believe in democracy are witnessing its steady and quickening erosion and have nowhere to turn – not to the ballot box or to the courts.
This story was originally published November 22, 2024 at 2:07 AM with the headline "A hard week for democracy in North Carolina | Opinion."