Judges side with Stein in lawsuit over control of NC elections board, striking down GOP-led law
‘It is the governor, and no one else, who must have sufficient control’ of Board of Elections, a panel of judges ruled.
By: Galen Bacharier - April 23, 2025 5:46 pm
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein delivers his inaugural address at the Capitol Building in Raleigh on Jan. 11, 2025. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)
A panel of North Carolina judges struck down a new Republican-led law Wednesday that sought to move the state’s elections board under the control of the GOP state auditor — siding with Democratic Gov. Josh Stein and declaring the law unconstitutional.
Senate Bill 382, passed late last year, shifted a number of aspects of executive branch power within the state away from the incoming governor. Among those changes were steering control of the elections board — which is currently overseen by the governor and has a Democratic majority — to newly elected auditor Dave Boliek, a Republican.
Citing a series of prior rulings on executive power and elections board control, the Wake County Superior Court judges wrote that the law was unconstitutional and should be permanently enjoined.
“Because the duty to faithfully execute the laws has been exclusively assigned to the governor, Senate Bill 382 cannot reassign that duty to the auditor without violating the constitution,” wrote Judges Edwin G. Wilson, Jr., a Democrat, and Lori I. Hamilton, a Republican.
Judge R. Andrew Womble, a Republican, dissented from the pair’s ruling, writing that the legislature was “expressly authorized” to shift duties to the auditor.
In a statement Wednesday, Stein celebrated the ruling that declared “the legislature’s power grab unconstitutional.”
“The North Carolina Constitution puts the governor in charge of executing the law,” Stein said. “That’s what the voters elected me to do, so that’s what I’ll do.”
Boliek said he would appeal the ruling.
“My office remains ready, willing, and able to take on the duties and responsibilities of overseeing board of elections appointments and budget administration,” he said in a statement. “I stand by my arguments and will promptly be appealing this ruling.”
House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) also said he would appeal. He expressed confidence in the law while blasting the Board of Elections, which he said operated elections “much like in a banana republic.”
“From failing to properly clean up our voter rolls, to determining third party ballot access based on the political winds, to completely bungling simple voter registration requirements, the partisan Democrat board is a national embarrassment,” Hall said in a statement. “We will appeal, and we are confident Senate Bill 382 will ultimately be upheld, resulting in a board that will finally follow the law as it is written and not based on left wing fantasies.”
The office of Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R-Rockingham), who is also a defendant in the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Stein has filed separate suits challenging other portions of the law, dealing with control of the state Highway Patrol and his power to make court appointments.
A spokesperson for the Board of Elections told NC Newsline in November 2024 that if the law were to take effect, it would likely result in control of the board changing hands, with a 3-2 Republican split.
