Republican move to impeach Secretary of State Elaine Marshall is blatantly political

Elaine Marshall has served as secretary of state for North Carolina for 20 years, and she has become in that time one of the most widely popular publicly-elected officials. Few have traveled the state more or met more of its citizens. And she’s done a fine job running a department with a wide array of oversight duties, from coordinating trips from foreign educational groups to licensing various businesses. A fine speaker, she’s known for a good sense of humor and keen knowledge of the law.

Marshall is a tough Democrat, to be sure. Her early opponent for the office was stock car legend Richard Petty; she beat him. And she’s been a frequent ally in many campaigns.

Perhaps that’s why Republicans in the General Assembly are now pulling one of their more outrageous stunts since taking control of the legislature in 2011. It sounds like a cliche, but it’s true in this case: In threatening to impeach Marshall on a bogus claim, Republicans ought to be ashamed of themselves. It would be redundant to say they’ve gone too far this time, because they’ve gone too far many times.

But this borders on the unbelievable. Basically, a resolution backed by little-known Republican Rep. Chris Millis of Hampstead — passed by the House Rules Committee on a party line vote — wants an investigation of Marshall to study possible impeachment based on malfeasance in office. The reason is a claim that her office commissioned some notary publics who were not eligible because they were noncitizens. Notaries are authorized by the state to verify signatures and administer oaths.

In fact, however, Marshall’s office clearly can prove it followed the letter of the law when it came to commissioning notaries who were qualified under state and federal law. A Supreme Court ruling in 1984 made it improper to make citizenship a requirement to be a notary; a new law in 2005 requires those who qualify to reside in the United States.

Millis is a civil engineer and in his third-term. His Republican colleagues who are attorneys should have stopped this scurrilous strike against Secretary Marshall, who has conducted herself and her office with the utmost integrity in her long career in public service.

In fact, House Speaker Tim Moore, who has great power when it comes to making ridiculous legislation go away, should have seen to it that his measure never saw the light of day. It’s sad indeed that Republicans will go to any extreme to try to embarrass a Democrat, and in this case, moving toward the possibility of impeachment of a statewide office holder for the first time since Gov. William Holden in 1870.

Is the General Assembly a serious lawmaking body, or simply now a partisan battlefield? In going after Marshall, Millis is picking a fight way out of his league with someone who has the respect of Republicans and Democrats statewide for a very good reason. She earned it.

This story was originally published June 29, 2017 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Republican move to impeach Secretary of State Elaine Marshall is blatantly political."