The clawback begins: N. Carolina judge delays law stripping new Dem gov. of elections oversight

[ucrdem]

Regaining control of unaccountable and corrupt election systems in swing states -- which is essential to winning anything -- is going to be a state-by-state battle royale and it looks like Cooper might win this one:

North Carolina Judge Delays Law Overhauling Elections Panel
By ALAN BLINDER, NYT, Dec. 30, 2016

In a second courtroom setback in two days for Republican leaders in North Carolina, a judge on Friday temporarily blocked a state elections board overhaul that had been condemned as a partisan diminishing of executive power.

The abolition of the existing State Board of Elections was to take effect on Sunday, less than three weeks after the Republican-controlled General Assembly approved a proposal to merge the panel with the State Ethics Commission and, ultimately, reduce the authority of Governor-elect Roy Cooper, a Democrat.

“It certainly is not going to harm the state or the agency or any agency to delay that termination for 10 days so that we can have a hearing, a more complete hearing on the legal issues, the constitutional issues,” said Judge Donald W. Stephens of Wake County Superior Court, where Mr. Cooper filed a lawsuit on Friday.

The judge, who announced his decision to grant a temporary restraining order at the end of a Friday afternoon hearing, is scheduled to hear more arguments about the disputed law on Thursday. But his ultimate role in the case, which Mr. Cooper’s lawyers say is rooted in the principle of separation of powers, will be limited: Under North Carolina law, three-judge panels hear and decide constitutional challenges to state statutes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/30/us/north-carolina-election.html?_r=0

[sharp_stick]

1. I'm hopeful

here, the pukes tend to do pretty poorly in the courts in NC.

[Cha]

2. Thank you, ucr! I have special interest in this..

My sister and niece are new residents of Asheville and besides it's a Democratic Gov getting stripped of his powers by megalomaniac.

[Sunriser13]

3. Welcome to NC, Cha's folks!!

I was pretty much raised in Asheville, and while it's changed a lot, it's still a wonderful place to be!

The way Asheville is sort of in a valley surrounded by my mountains made me think of just being cradled and protected from the rest of the world... if that makes any sense to anyone!!

[Cha]

4. It does make sense, Sunriser! And, Mahalo, I will tell

them of your Welcome.

I use to live in Asheville, too, back in the '70s with my young family. I loved it.. it's so beautiful.

I live on Kauai which is another kind of beauty and has a Democratic Gov who hasn't been stripped of his powers.

It's obscene what happened in your gorgeous state.

Aloha and a Happy Healthy New Year!

[Sunriser13]

5. Wow!

I was there then!

In '72 or '73 I wore my Watergator t-shirt to school proudly and no-one batted an eye. I loved that shirt, bought it with 5 whole weeks of allowance - $5.00!! Had Nixon's face pasted on a cartoon alligator. I got $1 a week allowance back then...

My Mother died in 1980, when I was 18, and I ended up leaving, involuntarily, in about 1984.

I still miss my mountains...

[ucrdem]

6. Thanks for the memory Sunriser!

Sorry to hear about your mom but the Watergate t-shirt made me laugh. NC might be turning blue so here's hoping for a good outcome to this battle which still has a long way to go, with a three-judge ruling ahead which could go badly. Here's more on NC's "battleground state" polling which was basically tied in the run-up:

http://www.politico.com/2016-election/swing-states

[ucrdem]

7. aloha Cha!

and Happy New Year!