GOP North Carolina power grab

[Arachnofiend]

Democrats do gerrymander. But I've never seen democrats reach to this extent, just to fuck with the opposing party.

I don't think I've seen either party do something like this in recent memory. Not even the Republican obstructionism of Obama comes close to comparing, the equivalent would be if they were to use the waning months of the Bush administration to change the overarching rules on presidential power.

[Dug]

I don't think I've seen either party do something like this in recent memory. Not even the Republican obstructionism of Obama comes close to comparing, the equivalent would be if they were to use the waning months of the Bush administration to change the overarching rules on presidential power.

If things keep going the way they're going I reckon we'll see something similar to that at the end of Trump's presidency. Fortunately I think most people will realize this is fucked and shut it down.

[God Save The King]

"Will of the people". I'm not sure you know what that actually means...

He meant "follow the will of the people" :P

[Super Friendly Kitty Cat]

Fun fact : The whole republican states rights movement is based upon the desire of republicans to discriminate against and disenfranchise African Americans, and they have a long and disgusting history of doing so. So its no surprise that to this day they continue to use such tactics.

*citation needed

[cubby]

*citation needed

The NC (I think it was NC) redistricting/gerrymandering case that affirmed. They basically had studies lying around confirming the top 5 methods african americans use to obtain voter ID's, and then they passed a law saying those five weren't valid.

[alexw]

*citation needed

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States'_rights

African-American civil rights movement

During the 1950s and 1960s, the African-American Civil Rights Movement was confronted by the proponents in the Southern states of racial segregation and Jim Crow laws who denounced federal interference in these state-level laws as an assault on states' rights.

Though Brown v. Board of Education (1954) overruled the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) decision, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments were largely inactive in the South until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 21)[22] and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Several states passed Interposition Resolutions to declare that the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown usurped states' rights.

There was also opposition by states' rights advocates to voting rights at Edmund Pettus Bridge, which was part of the Selma to Montgomery marches, that resulted in the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

And all those southern republicans now populate the republican party.......

Then there's the modern stuff.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/30/us...sion.html?_r=0

A federal appeals court decisively struck down North Carolina’s voter identification law on Friday, saying its provisions deliberately “target African-Americans with almost surgical precision” in an effort to depress black turnout at the polls.

The sweeping 83-page decision by a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upended voting procedures in a battleground state about three months before Election Day. That ruling and a second wide-ranging decision on Friday, in Wisconsin, continued a string of recent court opinions against restrictive voting laws that critics say were created solely to keep minority and other traditionally Democratic voters away from the polls.

It's all about the "right" of republicans to put "uppity" blacks in there place.

[Lenonis]

Stuff like this should be outright illegal. There should be moratorium from just before the election until the new officials take office on any bills changing the powers of the offices. Period.

The GOP is no stranger to cheating and using dirty tactics to win elections. From gerrymandering to interstate cross check to voter suppression there is no end to what the GOP will do to maintain power. They don't care at all about the will of the people and haven't for some time.

And to end this entirely absurd debate -- Gerrymandering is something that is done by both parties but is done by Republicans by a much larger amount. It shouldn't be a surprise given how many states have Republican leadership.

I really would like to see an example of Democrats stripping powers from an incoming GOP governor before they take office -- as far as I know it hasn't been done.

[Wells]

Well McCrory signed the changes into law. Cooper has, rightly, hinted at legal challenges. Either way I hope he understands this means the NC GOP shouldn't be played nicely with.

[Fugus]

Honestly hope we see this repealed or revolted against with levels of discourse so high that it has to be repealed. These people are proving themselves to be traitors and putting their party above the will and betterment of the people of this state.

This is pure disgraceful.

[Hothgor]

"Will of the people". I'm not sure you know what that actually means...

Pretty sure the will of the people was for Hillary, not The Donald based purely on the popular vote. But hey, what do I know. After all, in this country, losing is winning, and winners are losers.

[Wells]

More NC GOP tactics to avoid losing power:

Among its biggest consequences, the bill would effectively place election administration in Republican hands. Under current law, three of the five positions on the state board of elections are controlled by the governor's party. But under the proposed legislation, the board would be merged with the state Ethics Commission and each party would get an equal number of appointees. Democratic appointees would chair the board in odd-numbered years and Republican appointees would lead in even-numbered years. Since federal and major state elections take place in even-numbered years, this ensures that the board would be led by Republicans during major elections.

[Paranoid Android]

More NC GOP tactics to avoid losing power:

The consequences of Trump. He will get his one justice. Goodness forbid R.B.G. dies. All laws protecting voting rights and laws to protect voters are so gone.

[Xyonai]

Well this is proper fucked, here's hoping that the voters of NC can do what they can to get this rightly unfucked and tell these whiny losers to get fucked.

...Fuck.

[Wells]

Well this is proper fucked, here's hoping that the voters of NC can do what they can to get this rightly unfucked and tell these whiny losers to get fucked.

...Fuck.

Well the courts already said the districting that was put in place is illegal, and they're having a do over next year with new districts, so hopefully Democrats keep up the pressure.

This is an example of what the Dems need to do in every state to regain viability.

[Edge-]

At this point, you cannot convince me that the GOP is not really a cartoon villain. This shit is completely bonkers to the extreme, and so extremely partisan and undemocratic I can't even begin to fathom it.

Seriously, when the fuck did one of the two major political parties in the US become a cartoon villain? Because the other one is just incompetent, and that's not terribly useful : /

[Xyonai]

Well the courts already said the districting that was put in place is illegal, and they're having a do over next year with new districts, so hopefully Democrats keep up the pressure.

This is an example of what the Dems need to do in every state to regain viability.

Yeah, I was referring to that when I posted. It's nice to see something being done about the more severe/blatant cases of Gerrymandering.

At this point, you cannot convince me that the GOP is not really a cartoon villain. This shit is completely bonkers to the extreme, and so extremely partisan and undemocratic I can't even begin to fathom it.

Seriously, when the fuck did one of the two major political parties in the US become a cartoon villain? Because the other one is just incompetent, and that's not terribly useful : /

Part of me thinks it's the NC GOP feeling emboldened by the Presidential election and not realizing how absolutely blatant their actions look to most people. ALso, really, quite a few people won't care because it either guards their side or because they legitimately don't care about politics and I'm sure the NC GoP was banking on that to allow them to coast through with this stuff.

[jdbond592]

^^Blatant? You realize that most conservatives support this move?


Sooner or later America will snap. I can do without hicks. For good or worse

[Gestopft]

More NC GOP tactics to avoid losing power:

"It's totally fair guys. We just take turns. Whaddaya mean big elections are on even years? That's just a coincidence!"

One of the other new requirements: Require Senate confirmation for the Governor's cabinet appointments.

[Slybak]

Rewriting election board allotments so instead of being 2/3rds governors party (by law), they're evenly matched.

Not entirely the case. The shenanigans are actually worse. From the bill in question:

At the first meeting in May, the State Board shall organize by electing one of its members chair and one of its members vice-chair, each to serve a one-year term as such. In the odd-numbered year, the chair shall be a member of the political party with the highest number of registered affiliates, as reflected by the latest registration statistics published by the State Board, and the vice-chair a member of the political party with the second highest number of registered affiliates. In the even-numbered year, the chair shall be a member of the political party with the second highest number of registered affiliates, as reflected by the latest registration statistics published by the State Board, and the vice-chair a member of the political party with the highest number of registered affiliates

There are far more registered Democrats in NC than Republicans (about 700,000 more, according to the latest voter rolls). So, under the law, a Republican would always chair the state election board in even numbered years. Every election in North Carolina, outside special elections, occur in even-numbered years. Though the language of the bill offers a veneer of bipartisanship, a Republican will always run the eight-member board, of which six votes will now be required to do anything.

[Fahrenheit]

Shameful. GOP voters in NC should be ashamed of their politicians. Independent and Democratic voters have every right to be outraged.