North Carolina’s governor has appointed two Republicans to the State Board of Elections to replace predecessors who resigned amid pushback over absentee ballot procedures they had voted to support.
Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, has appointed Carr McLamb, a lawyer who previously worked at two state agencies; and Tommy Tucker, a former legislator, to the panel. Cooper picked the two from a list provided by the state GOP. Democrats hold a 3-2 majority on the board.
The two previous Republican board members, Ken Raymond and David Black, resigned last month after supporting a unanimous board decision to alter absentee ballot rules as part of a legal settlement to a lawsuit by voting rights advocates.
The changes, which are now on hold, included giving voters more leeway to fix witness problems and extending the period when county boards could accept absentee ballots after Election Day as long as they were postmarked by Nov. 3. The changes were approved by a state court judge, but later put on hold when a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order.
The changes prompted sharp criticism and separate federal lawsuits by Republican leaders. They will be discussed at a federal court hearing Wednesday.
Photo via the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.
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