Governor vetoes bill barring donations to run NC elections

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed Republican legislation Thursday that would bar North Carolina election boards and officials in counties from accepting private money to run elections.

The bill, one of several election-related measures pushed by GOP legislators this year, responded to the funds distributed nationwide – including millions of dollars to North Carolina – by outside groups to administer the 2020 elections, particularly to address pandemic-related challenges.

GOP bill sponsors said outside donations to government agencies create the impression of undue influence in elections. They point out that some nationwide grant distributors received large donations from Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of the company formerly known as Facebook, and his wife.

But Cooper said in a statement that nonprofit and nonpartisan grants provided masks, pens and other protective equipment “so voters stayed safe during the pandemic.”

"The legislature should start properly funding elections boards to ensure accessible, safe, and secure elections every time, which would end the need for grants,” he added.

North Carolina received at least $4.7 million from the Center for Tech & Civic Life and the Center for Election Innovation & Research. It was used to purchase pens for voters at the polls, provide bonuses to workers at early voting sites and send mailers about voting procedures, according to the State Board of Elections. Another 10 counties also got monetary help from the USC Schwarzenegger Institute to run polling sites, the state board said.

The bill now returns to the General Assembly, which after Friday won't reconvene to Raleigh until Dec. 30, when veto override attempts are possible. But it's unlikely GOP bill authors would be successful. The bill was approved along party lines, and Republican majorities are not veto-proof.

None of Cooper's vetoes this year have been overturned. He vetoed another election bill last week that would prohibit the counting of mail-in absentee ballots received after Election Day, even if their envelopes were postmarked on or before that date. Current law provides a three-day grace period after Election Day for envelopes to arrive by mail.

Sponsor Sen. Paul Newton, R-Cabarrus, said the legislation to prohibit private donations to elections boards would improve voter confidence in elections.

"Private interests paying for vote collection and counting raises natural suspicions about election integrity," Newton said in a statement criticizing the veto. "This is potentially the beginning of a destabilizing era in which a core function of democracy – counting the votes – is funded by private interests."

Democrats counter that they are designed to reinforce an unfounded narrative from national Republicans and former President Donald Trump that voter fraud was present last year.

Also Thursday, Cooper signed a measure portrayed as an anti-corruption law within local governments.

The bill creates a new felony when a local elected official asks for or receives financial benefits from the public body the person represents. Some legislators criticized the bill, accusing the authors of unfairly targeting a Rocky Mount council member who was subject of a stinging audit and his utility bill.

"This is a great step forward in holding elected officials accountable and ensuring that taxpayers aren't footing the bill for wrongdoing," sponsor Sen. Lisa Barnes, R-Nash, said in a statement. "Elected officials should not be given special treatment just because of their title or office."

Another bill Cooper signed Thursday would direct the state program providing rent and utility assistance to low-income renters struggling due to the pandemic to accept grant applications from landlords.

The governor also vetoed a bill that would keep local governments from barring a type of energy service based on the fuel type, such as natural gas, for example.

"This legislation undermines North Carolina's transition to a clean-energy economy that is already bringing in thousands of good-paying jobs," he said in a statement. "It also wrongly strips local authority and hampers public access to information about critical infrastructure that impacts the health and well-being of North Carolinians."

"The heavy hand of government has no place in the personal decisions North Carolinians make for their households," Rep. Dean Arp, R-Union, the bill's sponsor, said in a statement.

A third veto blocks legislation that would have given car dealers more leeway to sell salvaged vehicles without an inspection under certain conditions. Cooper said the bill would have removed a layer of protection for consumers.