How Pat McCrory is preparing to ask North Carolina's GOP legislature to steal the election for him

Even though North Carolina went for Donald Trump earlier this month, those same voters ousted their Republican governor, Pat McCrory, in favor of Democrat Roy Cooper, the state’s attorney general. McCrory will probably demand a recount, but it would be very unlikely to change the outcome, since Cooper now leads by 5,923 votes, up from 4,480 on election night.

However, McCrory is refusing to abide by the normal democratic process. He has instead lodged baseless protests alleging widespread voter fraud, which could set the stage for the Republican-dominated state legislature to overturn the election result and give McCrory a second term—even if he trails in the final vote tallies.

McCrory has challenged vote counts in more than 50 counties based on claims of fraud that are almost entirely without real evidence. County boards of election have repeatedly ruled against these challenges, even though by law they are comprised of two members of the governor’s party and just one from the opposition. That means even Republican election officials have rejected McCrory’s arguments!

But McCrory’s real target almost certainly lies beyond these local election boards. Instead, it appears that he’s trying to delegitimize the election process itself. Then, after he’s kicked enough dirt into the air by raising bogus “questions” about the election, he can, under state law, ask the legislature to use its powers to simply name him the victor. The fraud claims would simply be a fig-leaf for Republicans to overturn the will over the voters. And amazingly enough, if they do so, their decision wouldn’t even be subject to judicial review in state court (although a federal lawsuit might still be possible).