Bouncing checks and balances

by | Aug 23, 2017 | Editor's Blog, NC Politics

Republicans have a very clear plan to hold power in the state while reducing the checks and balances that are designed to prevent consolidation of power. Gerrymandering and voter suppression laws are key to keeping their legislative majorities. Since Roy Cooper took power, they’ve made a concerted effort to reduce the power of governor’s office. They’ve also been trying to stack the courts with partisan Republicans since so much of their legislation has been found unconstitutional.

The last time Democrats drew districts, a group of legislators and staff of the North Carolina Democratic Party staffers wielded the pen. They certainly looked for Democratic advantage but they were amateurs at best and they also protected Republican incumbents. Back then, nobody was making a living rigging elections.

Republicans in North Carolina didn’t leave the new districts to chance. No, they paid a consultant to draw the new maps. His goal wasn’t to make the maps more fair. His goal was to draw as many safe Republican districts as possible. In other words, he’s here to limit democracy and he was paid with taxpayer money.

So far, he’s done a great job. He drew the first set of maps ensuring a veto proof majority in both houses of the legislature despite Republicans only winning narrow majorities in every election since the biennium. In fact, in 2012, Democrats won a majority of Congressional votes but still ended up with only four of thirteen Congressional seats.  An analysis of the new legislative maps show the GOP mapmaker has drawn districts that would protect the Republican majority even if Democrats won with a 9% majority. That’s not democracy.

After Roy Cooper defeated Pat McCrory, the legislature called a special session just to strip power away from the governor. The state constitution makes North Carolina’s governor one of the weakest in the country and Republicans are trying to shift more power to the legislative branch. A case before the Supreme Court next week will determine whether or not the legislature can weaken the power of the State Ethics Commission and State Elections Board while giving more power to the legislature.

Republicans are trying to rig the judiciary by reducing the number of seats on the Court of Appeals to deny Democrats a majority. A plan moving through the legislature would redraw district court seats to make more of them favorable to Republicans. They already made nonpartisan judicial races partisan, ensuring that politics plays a greater role in our justice system.

None of this happened in a vacuum. Republicans have built an army of organizations to determine the best way to ensure entrenched conservative majorities. Organizations funded by the Koch brothers, like the American Legislative Exchange Council, better known as ALEC, write and advocate for traditional conservative policies but also propose cookie cutter legislation to reduce access to the polls. They don’t just offer ideas for promoting conservative laws, they’re working on protecting conservative majorities at the expense of democracy.

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