Switching parties after elected should be illegal

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — On the heels of a Democratic state lawmaker's seismic shift to the Republican Party, North Carolina Republicans have filed a flurry of bills aimed at transgender youth as they look to capitalize on their newly attained supermajority.

Five Senate bills filed this week before the chamber's Thursday filing deadline would ban gender-affirming medical procedures for transgender youth and prohibit them from participating in middle and high school sports consistent with their gender identity.

Dozens of GOP lawmakers packed into a crowded briefing room Thursday to promote the first of those bills — the school sports restriction — which supporters say is needed to preserve opportunities for cisgender girls and protect their physical safety. At least 20 states have passed similar laws restricting transgender students’ participation in sports, based on the assertion that they have an unfair advantage, despite a widespread lack of specific cases.

LGBTQ+ rights advocates say Rep. Tricia Cotham's switch to the GOP on Wednesday — which helped Republicans reach the three-fifths majority needed in both chambers to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's vetoes — opened the floodgates to more extreme legislation that they didn't previously have the numbers to pass. State Republicans last held veto-proof margins in 2018.

https://news.yahoo.com/newly-veto-proof-north-carolina-193030345.html

It gives Republicans a veto-proof majority whenever they can count on Cotham’s vote, which she was free to give them before her switch, and which she would still be free to give them if the thread title’s proposed law were in effect.

DaveSchmidt said:

It gives Republicans a veto-proof majority whenever they can count on Cotham’s vote, which she was free to give them before her switch, and which she would still be free to give them if the thread title’s proposed law were in effect.

I’m not talking about her vote. If you’re elected as a Democrat then switch to republican two months after being elected, don’t you think her constituents who voted for her were defrauded? You and your technicalities…

It will never be illegal to switch political parties after one is elected.

Jaytee said:

If you’re elected as a Democrat then switch to republican two months after being elected, don’t you think her constituents who voted for her were defrauded?

No. I think they voted for a candidate who was never obliged to vote her party’s line in the first place, which was why I mentioned that technicality.

yahooyahoo said:

It will never be illegal to switch political parties after one is elected.

It will also never be illegal to break campaign promises, no matter how defrauded Jaytee may feel about them.

Does anyone think Manchin is a Democrat?  The @NoLabels SuperPAC is now raising money to run him (or another quisling) as an independent in the general to siphon votes away from Biden. 

https://2024.nolabels.org/

Spread the word.

Maybe they should make it illegal to switch parties right after winning an election. Too many RINOs and DINOs out there deceiving their constituents. 

Jaytee said:

Maybe they should make it illegal to switch parties right after winning an election.

Again, to what effect? If Cotham were legally barred from switching parties, what would prevent her from voting with the Republican majority anyway when she wanted to?

dave said:

Does anyone think Manchin is a Democrat? 

Besides Chuck Schumer and the Senate Parliamentarian? Also, everyone who was excited to see Infrastructure Week finally arrive under Pres. Biden.

PVW said:

Besides Chuck Schumer and the Senate Parliamentarian?

Ah, an answer to my question: If Manchin had wanted to change his party last Congress, a law against it would have prevented Republicans from taking over committee chairs. If those were the stakes, yeah, I might feel defrauded as a voter.

Look, I know it’s not illegal but I think it’s really important that we make it illegal for people to run as a certain party member then switch as soon as they get elected. Then they would be expelled, and they wouldn’t be able to vote any more. Done! 

I would think that it should lead to a special election within three months.