Gov. Roy Cooper (D) issued a statement Wednesday where he blasted the Republican-led legislature for passing a bill involving campaign finance investigations.
Cooper’s statement comes as an investigation is underway into accusations of absentee ballots being illegally collection in the state’s 9th District.
Investigators are looking into whether McCrae Dowless and others working on behalf of GOP candidate Mark Harris ran an illegal operation to collect large numbers of absentee ballots in at least two counties.
“Yet it’s astonishing that the legislature has passed a bill, HB 1029 (which I vetoed), that mandates secrecy for campaign finance investigations by the Elections Board,” Cooper’s statement reads. “Not only that, the new bill makes it harder to prosecute people and groups that violate campaign finance laws.”
Cooper says the bill was forced through with little research.
“Tell them not to override the veto tomorrow, Dec. 27 and instead negotiate a clean elections bill with me,” Cooper said.
Rep. John A. Torbett (R-Gaston) is the primary sponsor of the bill.
