We will tell more, but first give a listen to Jeanette Doran.

She’s the first vice chairwoman of the state’s Rules Review Commission, a 10-member board charged with reviewing and approving rules adopted by state agencies. And she is speaking about the 15 changes to election laws presented by state Board of Elections Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell on behalf of its members Damon Circosta, Stella Anderson, Jeff Carmon, Ken Raymond and David Black.

“It’s unusual to have all commissioners object on the same basis. To have all of the commissioners object on three distinct bases speaks volumes,” she told the Carolina Journal’s Julie Havlak.

A bit of perspective. The commission uses four standards in reviewing all rules: authority, clarity, necessity, and compliance with the procedural requirements. Bell and her board went 3-for-4 on the bad side. Their ideas were ambiguous, unnecessary and outside of their authority.

The 10 appointees are nominated by the leaders of the state Senate and House. Their authority was created in 1986 — with a Republican governor, and Democrats in 82 of 120 House seats and 38 of 50 Senate seats.

Bell was appointed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, and three members of her board are Democrats, the other two Republicans. Though the state is clearly divided three ways — registration is 2.5 million Democrat, 2.3 million unaffiliated, 2 million Republican — only the two major parties have a seat at this board’s table.

The Bladen Journal rejected the state election board’s ideas April 3. We were clear then, and will be now — we want all eligible North Carolinians to vote. Bell and her board brought about changes that were under the guise of temporary because of the COVID-19 pandemic, when in reality, only two of the 15 had “temporary” in the language.

Gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Dan Forest rightly accused them of looking for “unprecedented power,” to which the commission agreed.

The rules commission decision came Thursday, and a day later bipartisan House Bill 1169 came forward from Rep. Holly Grange and co-sponsors Pricey Harrison, Destin Hall and Allison Dahle. Grange, Harrison and Hall are Republicans, and Dahle is a Democrat.

The coronavirus will impact the election. Voters want to be safe, as do poll workers and county election boards, the latter of which handles absentee-by-mail envelopes coming in that are sure to increase.

HB 1169 addresses resources and flexibility for those casting and those counting. It also bans the state from going to an all-mail election.

For the record, Bell has endorsed HB 1169.

But her actions while we are mired in a worldwide pandemic — trying to claim authority to pen new state election laws within months of a presidential election — remain shameful and dishonorable to her appointed position.

We should have confidence in the integrity of our elections, not troubling worries about the director of our state’s election board who oversees them.

— Bladen Journal