North Carolina elections officials are being called to testify before a legislative committee to talk about their treatment of third-party candidates.

The North Carolina State Elections Board on June 26 blocked requests by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cornel West, and Constitution Party candidate Randall Terry to be listed as presidential candidates on the November ballot. Democrats who control the board said they want more time to review each candidate’s petition before making a final decision at a later date.

On Tuesday, leaders of North Carolina’s House Oversight and Reform Committee sent a letter to Alan Hirsch, chairman of the state elections board, asking him to testify before their committee on July 9. State Reps. Jake Johnson and Harry Warren, co-chairs of the committee, wrote to Hirsch:

“At the hearing, please be prepared to address this information, including:

• The grounds by which the Board denied the petitions of these political parties, even after timely submission.
• Anticipated schedule to resolve questions on the submitted petitions.
• Any communications the Board has had with third-party organizations concerning its decision to leave these political parties off the ballot.
• Any underlying or perceived political motivations the Board may have to exclude these names from the ballot.”

Johnson and Warren also invited other board members and Karen Brinson Bell, the board’s executive director. Paul Cox, the state board’s general counsel, told WRAL Wednesday that the hearing is still up in the air.

The state elections board plans to meet on July 9 and continue reviewing the third-party petitions, Cox said.

“My understanding is that the committee is looking to reschedule, because they weren’t aware that the State Board was planning to meet next Tuesday to consider petitions,” Cox said in an email. The board is scheduled to meet at 1:30 p.m. on July 9.

Staff for the legislative committee leaders didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

The legislators’ request comes a day after Republican members of Congress also inquired about the board’s decision. On Monday, Republican chairmen of the House Administration and House Judiciary committees asked the state elections board to provide them with documents and other information related to the board’s decision.

The committees “are concerned that the NCSBE’s decision was politically motivated and may have been done to influence the 2024 presidential election by limiting the candidates for which voters may cast their ballots,” Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Bryan Steil, R-Wisconsin, wrote in a letter to the state elections board. Jordan chairs the judiciary committee and Steil chairs the administration committee.

The board intends to provide the committees with the documents they seek, Cox confirmed earlier this week. Many of them are already publicly available on the state board’s website.

North Carolina voters have signaled that they’d like to have options for president besides Republican Donald Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden. The board’s review of third-party candidates comes as Democrats have raised concerns about Biden’s ability to defeat Trump following his heavily-scrutinized performance in a recent debate.

The three candidates petitioning to get their names on North Carolina’s ballot are hoping to do so by having their political parties formally recognized by the elections board. Kennedy would represent the We The People Party, West would represent the Justice For All Party, and Terry would represent the Constitution Party.

Board members raised different issues with each petition.

Democrats on the state elections board expressed concern that Kennedy is using the We the People Party to circumvent state law — and that the proposed party doesn’t represent a group of voters with a specific set of policy beliefs.

In North Carolina, state law makes it harder for individual candidates to get ballot access than for new political parties. Board members asked We The People representatives about a script they provided to volunteers, which said the purpose of the petition was to create a new political party and get Kennedy’s name on the North Carolina ballot.

As for the Justice For All petition, board members said they worried that volunteers misled signatories about the purpose of the group, which espouses liberal ideals. West is a former honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Italo Medelius, chair of Justice For All Party of North Carolina, told the board at its June 26 meeting that its petition materials may have been accessed by Trump supporters. The party’s petition, board members noted, should be signed by people who want to advocate for a common set of beliefs.

The Constitution Party’s petition, meanwhile, is hung up on a technical issue.

State law requires party petitions to include a legitimate address. The group’s petition listed the address of a former residence for Al Pisano, chair of the state party.

Pisano told board members that he wasn’t sure if he needed to change the address. The party was on North Carolina’s ballot in 2020. Its presidential nominee, Don Blankenship, received 7,549 votes of the 5.5 million cast.

Pisano said that he had previously reached out to elections board staff about the address issue and didn’t receive an answer. Board members delayed their decision on the Constitution Party to review records exchanged by Pisano and board staff.

Democratic board member Siobhan Millen said that, before the address issue came up, she had expected the party’s petition to be “probably a slam dunk.”

North Carolina’s Gov. Roy Cooper plans to participate virtually in a White House meeting today with other Democratic governors across the country and President Joe Biden, according to the governor’s office.

The meeting, confirmed by the White House, comes after a group of Democratic governors talked on Monday about concerns over the current president’s run this November without the president, USA TODAY reports. Much of the concern surrounds Biden’s debate performance last week where he was seen freezing and stumbling over his words. Biden, 81, has even told reporters it was not his best performance.

Governor call: Biden to meet with Democratic governors in wake of debate debacle, calls to leave ’24 race

Despite public calls for Biden to step down from the race and a flurry of potential replacements thrown out, Biden has not indicated he would do so. In fact, during a rally in Raleigh the day after the debate Biden told visitors “I know how to do this job.”

Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Monday signed legislation that places an official definition of antisemitism into state law, which supporters say could help law enforcement determine whether someone should be charged under current hate crime prohibitions based on race, religion or nationality.

The measure came to Cooper’s desk after the Senate and House approved it in near-unanimous votes last week. The bipartisan backing followed recent heated nationwide campus protests over the Israel-Hamas War and supporters’ concerns that some comments by pro-Palestinian demonstrators had crossed the line into being antisemitic.

The act adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which is outlined as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.” It also includes several examples of antisemitism, such as the denial of Jewish people’s right to self-determination and applying double standards to Israel’s actions.

In a statement Monday, Cooper said the now-enacted “SHALOM Act” addresses rising antisemitism.

“While we protect the right to free speech, this legislation helps to make our state a more welcoming, inclusive and safe place for everyone,” the Democratic governor said.

A coalition of civil liberties and multifaith groups opposed the legislation, saying it could stifle protesters’ otherwise free speech, particularly of words critical of Israel. Opponents demonstrated outside the governor’s mansion late last week urging that he veto the bill.

As of Monday afternoon, Cooper still had more than 20 bills on his desk sent to him by the General Assembly before lawmakers wrapped up their primary work session for the year. Cooper has a 10-day window on each bill to sign them into law or veto them. A bill becomes law if he takes no action within 10 days.

Featured photo via AP Photo/Bryan Anderson.

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