Early voting started Wednesday, so it's appropriate the week was dominated by election-related news.
A three-judge panel ruled – yet again – that lawmakers crossed the line in changes they have made in the past two years about the structure of the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement. The judges said the governor should have more power to remove members of the board and should have been allowed to appoint his own elections director. They also deemed unconstitutional the provision calling for Republicans to chair the county and state elections boards in even-numbered years, when presidential, gubernatorial and legislative elections are held.
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But the judges stayed their decision until after the November elections.
The board itself turned its findings into Rep. Rodney Moore's campaign finances over to Mecklenburg County prosecutors for possible criminal charges. Board members said there was clear evidence that Moore, D-Mecklenburg, signed finance reports that didn't disclose all of his contributions, altered bank records and illegally spent some campaign money.
A campaign finance hearing for Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell, was postponed, but not before Republican officials criticized elections board Chairman Andy Penry for asking for a doctor's note to prove that Hise's mother, who previously served as his campaign treasurer, was undergoing treatment for cancer.
A Republican member of the Haywood County Board of Elections resigned before the state board could remove her from office for posting on Facebook that Democrats wanted to legalize pedophilia to gain votes from Catholics. The post violated a state law that elections board members cannot show political bias.
Outside of elections-related news, the General Assembly quickly passed – and Gov. Roy Cooper just as quickly signed – a $794 million package of aid to Hurricane Florence victims.