Pat McCrory is continuing to do damage to our state and he’s following the Fox News model of bringing into question the credibility of the institutions that have assured our democracy and the peaceful transfer of power. His criticism is meant to divide instead of unite and the ultimate goal is to keep power at any cost.
Make no mistake. Pat McCrory lost this election to Roy Cooper. He has every right to make sure all of the ballots are counted and to ask for a recount if the outcome is close enough.
However, that’s not what he and his team are doing. They’re following up on the “system is rigged” storyline that helped elect Donald Trump. McCrory has filed complaints of voter fraud in 12 counties in an attempt to cast doubt on the legitimacy of Cooper’s victory.
It’s overblown political hype. For example, the McCrory campaign is claiming “a massive voter fraud scheme” in Bladen County. Let’s put this into perspective. Pat McCrory WON Bladen County this year by 7 points despite losing it by that much in 2012. In addition, there are only 250 questionable ballots out of about 15,500 cast. If there is voter fraud, it seems likely that McCrory, not Cooper, benefited. It’s certainly not “massive.” The goal, though, is not about winning or losing. It’s about harming our democracy to justify making our country less democratic.
Republicans have been attacking our electoral system since we elected Barack Obama. In this polarized world, too many Americans couldn’t believe we would elect a black man President of the United States. Republicans have been crying voter fraud and putting restraints on access to the polls ever since. It’s a systematic and political attack on the integrity and legitimacy of our democracy.
Voter suppression is just one tool in the GOP tool box. Republicans have adopted a “by any means necessary” to holding power. Donald Trump refused to say whether or not he would accept the outcome of the election if he lost. Republicans in North Carolina are mulling a court packing scheme in order to keep control of the Supreme Court.
Ironically, it’s not the Cooper victory or Mike Morgan’s victory that are illegitimate. The federal courts found the legislative districts unconstitutional so the General Assembly is the less credible branch of government. I would imagine anything the legislature does in regard to court packing would be ruled unconstitutional since the people making the decisions are coming from people in unconstitutional districts.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
The key is that the legislature determines contested elections. If McCrory can make enough noise to give the legislature cover, then he’ll appeal the decision of the board of election to the legislature. There isn’t a standard for their vote so if they have the balls they can steal the election pure and simple.
Could you explain further how the legislature has this power in NC? Sorry for my ignorance, but would appreciate enlightenment.
NC Constitution
McCory continues to show himself as yet another example of how the Republican party is the most morally and intellectually bankrupt institution in America today.
The damage he did to NC over the past four years was not enough for him, so this is his parting shot.
Yes, The NCGOP will do everything and anything to stay in power, regardless if it means passing unconstitutional laws, or undermining electoral and democratic (note the small “d”) processes.
Just like Trump, they are unable to be graceful in any winning or losing they might experience. They tried gerrymandering local Wake districts when they couldn’t win them at the ballot box. Word is that they will try to pack the state SC because they lost its conservative court “lean” with Morgan’s success (and how ironic is it that Edmunds’ defeat was due in part to his early approval of what was later found to be the GOP’s unconstitutional gerrymandering of congressional districts?). And while they “won” in getting HB2 passed, they have lost serious face from how that law has economically and perceptually hurt the state, and from their many statements dismissing that harm as inconsequential or dissing entities that oppose that law.
And let’s not overlooked the likelihood that their ad nauseam challenging of the gubernatorial election result is also meant to make the ultimate transition to a Cooper administration less smooth and somehow less legitimate in some voters’ eyes.
The NCGOP is about as mean-spirited and uber-partisan as a state political party can get.
Let’s hear it for “sour grapes” from Pat McCory. Good rdddance!