GOP lawmakers reject Cooper vetoes, enacting new laws for election oversight, looser environmental protections

The North Carolina House and Senate voted Tuesday to override five vetoes by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper as they sought to wrap up their work for this year’s general session before turning their attention to redrawing state and congressional voting maps.

All the attempted veto overrides passed Tuesday, most of them entirely along party lines — a show of the GOP supermajority's strength as Republicans rolled back environmental protections, changed the rules for voting ahead of the 2024 elections, and seized powers for lawmakers that belonged to the governor.

Democrats accused Republicans of engaging in authoritarian power grabs by consolidating power in the legislative branch, to the detriment of the normal separation of powers, but their complaints fell on deaf ears as the veto overrides passed along party lines.

Tuesday's overrides come on top of other vetoes the legislature had already turned back this year, including measures on abortion, LGBTQ rights and changes to the rules for charter schools. Republican lawmakers have now, in 2023, rejected more vetoes than in any single year ever — as well as in any two-year session — since 2017-18, the first year of Cooper's governorship.

The ability to pass laws without needing to win Democratic support wasn't guaranteed at the start of the year. Republicans entered the 2023 session with a veto-proof supermajority in the Senate, for the first time in four years, but they were one vote shy of a supermajority in the House. Democrats viewed that one-seat deficit as their last line of defense to uphold Cooper’s vetoes.

But then state Rep. Tricia Cotham, R-Mecklenburg, decided to change parties, switching in April from Democrat to Republican, giving the GOP the veto-proof supermajority it needed in the House. Since then, none of Cooper’s vetoes have been upheld.

Of the 14 vetoes already overturned before Tuesday, nine received supporting votes from some members of the governor’s party, mostly those from conservative or swing districts. That hadn’t happened since Democrats broke the GOP supermajority in 2019. But with Cooper in his final term, some House and Senate Democrats have grown bolder about opposing his vetoes.

Most veto overrides, however, have broken strictly along party lines. For those bills, Republican leaders have had to ensure perfect attendance within their caucuses, a feat that’s been harder to manage since vacation season got underway in July.

Here’s a breakdown of the bills that became law Tuesday following the successful veto override votes.

Senate Bill 747, a collection of election law changes, repeals the three-day grace period for mail-in ballots to arrive after Election Day. Under the new law, ballots would now have to arrive at local boards of election by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day to be counted. It also loosens rules governing partisan poll observers at election sites, bans the use of private grants to help fund elections and requires a 10-county pilot test of signature verification software for absentee mail-in ballots.

"The intent of this bill is to help lend confidence to voters in elections," said Sen. Warren Daniel, R-Burke, who also criticized Democrats, saying they exaggerated how many people's ballots would be thrown in the trash because of the changes to the mail-in voting deadline.

In his veto message, Cooper said the bill “has nothing to do with election security and everything to do with Republicans keeping and gaining power.”

Democrats in the House and Senate said the changes loosening rules for poll observers harken back to previous, racially motivated voter intimidation efforts. Sen. Kandie Smith, D-Pitt, said partisan poll observers will now be able to get close to voters, listen in on their conversations in line and even take photos of them. It's the opposite of helping with faith in elections, she said.

"These are the things that are making people scared," Smith said. "These are the things that make voters feel like their voice isn’t heard, and their vote does not count.”

Senate Bill 749 is a legislative takeover of the State Board of Elections and county boards of elections. Instead of five-member bodies appointed via the governor’s political party with that party holding a one-seat majority, new four-member boards would be appointed by the General Assembly with an even split of Republicans and Democrats.

Republicans say the even split will increase voter confidence in elections, but Democrats warn the boards will deadlock on party lines, leaving them unable to make vital decisions about elections and potentially passing along those decisions to the General Assembly, which Republicans control.

Cooper, who loses his control over the state and county elections boards now that the bill is law, said it “creates a grave risk that Republican legislators or courts would be empowered to change the results of an election if they don’t like the winner. That’s a serious threat to our democracy.”

As the bill passed into law, a handful of protesters got up and left the chambers. One yelled, “This is what authoritarianism looks like. You’re destroying our Democracy” on her way out.

Several House Democrats said they felt the same way. “Some people call it a power grab,” Rep. Marcia Morey, D-Durham said. “I say it’s an example of authoritarianism.”

Rep. Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, said the measure should give voters the confidence that boards of election are making decisions based on what’s best for election integrity, not partisanship. In the other chamber, Sen. Paul Newton, R-Cabarrus, made a similar argument in favor of the overhaul.

"The new structure will not allow either party to have control of our elections process," Newton said. "As we look forward to the 2023 and 2024 elections, it's important for the General Assembly to come together to ensure that our elections administration works on behalf of voters, not a political party."

Senate Bill 512 takes away the governor’s appointments to a list of powerful regulatory state boards and commissions, giving those appointments instead to state legislative leaders or other members of the executive branch. It’s the latest step in lawmakers’ years-long campaign to strip the executive branch of power.

Sen. Julie Mayfield, D-Buncombe, said the changes are unconstitutional and authoritarian. Cooper has also called the changes unconstitutional and is expected to file a lawsuit now that the changes are law. He won a similar legal fight several years ago over a similar law. But the state Supreme Court has a new Republican majority that, in other recent political lawsuits, has ruled in favor of the Republican-led legislature.

GOP lawmakers say taking away the governor's power over the boards and commissions will make them more responsive to voters because state lawmakers are elected every two years, rather than four. Daniel, the Morganton Republican, also said the boards should improve by giving dozens of legislators the chance to propose members rather than just the governor: "It does not make sense for these boards to be made up of appointments by one individual," he said.

Daniel also said the boards will become more accountable under legislative control. Mayfield said that's a laughable claim. Already, very few legislative elections are competitive in any given year. And with state lawmakers about to redraw their own districts, Mayfield said, the legislature is almost certain to become more gerrymandered and less accountable following the 2024 elections.

"The General Assembly might be the least accountable branch of government in our state at this point, given how secure most of our seats are, how few of us have primaries, and how even fewer of us have any meaningful challengers in general elections," she said.

Senate Bill 678 redefines “renewable energy” in state law as “clean energy,” and makes nuclear eligible for that categorization, allowing Duke Energy to get credit for adding nuclear power under the state’s renewable energy portfolio standard.

Its lead sponsor is Newton, the Cabarrus County senator who's also the former president of Duke Energy's North Carolina operations. He said it will help North Carolina meet clean energy targets and should also help poor people, by keeping costs low “as we move towards a cleaner energy future.”

But that's simply untrue, said Sen. Graig Meyer. He said the bill eliminates a requirement for Duke Energy to pass cost-effectiveness tests when building future power plants, and "that means our cost of electricity is likely going to go up."

The bill wasn't entirely partisan when it first passed the legislature. It had support from nine Democrats originally, including several from the Charlotte area, where Duke is headquartered. One Republican voted against it, and seven more Republicans who were present for the bill’s passage didn't vote on it.

Supporters say additional conventional energy is needed to stabilize the grid when renewables can’t provide dependable power, for example at night or in peak demand situations. They say nuclear power is less polluting than fossil fuels.

Cooper said it will hinder the state’s push to fight climate change “by trying to put construction of traditional power plants, and higher profits for the utility companies, over lower-cost solutions like energy efficiency.”

House Bill 600 is an omnibus package of changes loosening various business and environmental regulations.

The regulatory reform act is an annual event that Republican lawmakers say is aimed at cutting red tape for businesses to help aid economic growth in the state. Among other changes, it will speed approval for the MVP Southgate natural gas pipeline into Alamance County and loosen stormwater runoff rules statewide.

Eight House Democrats voted in favor of the bill earlier this month. On Tuesday, five of them also voted with their Republican colleagues to override Cooper's veto: Reps. Carla Cunningham, Nasif Majeed, Garland Pierce, Shelly Willingham and Michael Wray.

Other Democrats said, as Cooper did when he vetoed the measure, that the bill unnecessarily weakens environmental regulations, a shift Rep. Deb Butler, D-New Hanover, called “shortsighted.”

“Regulations in and of themselves are not this horrible bugaboo to be avoided at all costs,” she said.

Bill sponsors have previously said that the measure will help the state maintain its strong reputation as a business-friendly state.

But Cooper, echoing many environmental advocates, said it “will result in dirtier water, discriminatory permitting and threats to North Carolina’s environment.” He also noted that it would repeal years of efforts to boost state contracting with minority-owned businesses.