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North Carolina: Let Ballot Probe Proceed Despite GOP Lawsuit
Attorneys representing North Carolina's elections agency say a judge should let a ballot fraud investigation play out in the nation's last undecided congressional race despite a Republican candidate's lawsuit, especially since Congress may ultimately decide the winner.
State attorneys responded Monday to a lawsuit filed by Republican Mark Harris, who narrowly led Democrat Dan McCready in the 9th District race before the investigation started.
Attorney General Josh Stein's office says the judge shouldn't order Harris declared the winner because the U.S. House indicated it's also going to look into allegations that mail-in ballots could have been altered or discarded by a Harris subcontractor.
Republicans Seek To Defend Voter ID Law In Federal Court
North Carolina Republican legislators want to get formally involved in a federal lawsuit challenging the state's latest voter identification law because they say Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein can't be trusted to defend it.
House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger filed a motion Monday to become legal parties in the state NAACP litigation against Cooper and state elections officials. Stein's office likely would represent those defendants in court. The new law sets the details of a photo ID mandate added to the state constitution by voters in November.
Group Asks North Carolina Speaker Be Investigated Further
A Washington-based nonprofit is asking again that North Carolina ethics officials investigate whether state House Speaker Tim Moore got preferential treatment in a regulatory matter involving property his company owned.
Campaign for Accountability leader Daniel Stevens filed the complaint Monday with the ethics enforcement office. The ethics board last month dismissed Stevens' first complaint, which accused Moore of trying to delay penalties related to underground fuel storage tanks at an old poultry plant site that Moore's company later sold.
Stevens' new accusations cite 2016 Department of Environmental Quality emails saying then-Moore staff aide Mitch Gillespie sought a status report about tank cleanup issues. Stevens also questions whether regulators handled the case properly.
UNC Removes Confederate Pedestal From Campus Overnight
Crews removed remnants of a Confederate statue from the University of North Carolina hours after the school's outgoing president ordered they be put into storage.
The university sent a statement early Tuesday confirming the work to remove the massive pedestal was happening at its Chapel Hill campus, hours after the announcement by Chancellor Carol Folt. Folt also said she was stepping down from her role at the end of the school year.
Folt said the items will be stored while their fate is decided. The statue was toppled by protesters last August.
North Carolina State Sen. Louis Pate Resigns, Citing Health
Veteran state Sen. Louis Pate is leaving the North Carolina General Assembly, a few months after acknowledging health problems and a week since getting sworn in for another two-year term.
Pate sent his resignation letter Monday to Gov. Roy Cooper. The 82-year-old Mount Olive resident had started his ninth term in the legislature going back to 1995. He previously served four terms in the House.
Pate said in October an unspecified health issue had caused him to scale back campaigning for re-election in the 7th District. Pate says in his resignation letter that his recovery is ongoing and will preclude him from serving his constituents fully.
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