Before wrapping up his hourlong presentation, N.C. House Speaker Jim Black’s lawyer urged the N.C. elections board to consider making changes for the future — rather than penalizing the speaker.
Lawyer John Wallace spent much of the past hour debating technicalities in state election law with elections board members. The outcome of that debate could determine whether Black’s campaign committee faces any fines and recommendations for criminal charges.
Wallace disagrees with the board’s interpretation of laws involving campaign checks that have blank “payee” lines. Near the end of the discussion, Wallace said:
I think it’s a harsh and unfair result to now impute thse principles to the Committee to Elect Jim Black, and we qould respectfully request that this approach — if this approach is deemed appropriate — that it be applied prospectively, whether by guidance from this board by regulatory scheme or through the legislative process. We have no objection to that kind of guidance.
