RALEIGH, N.C. – In a contentious election for the North Carolina Supreme Court, trailing candidate Jefferson Griffin has petitioned the court to intervene and halt the counting of over 60,000 ballots that he claims were not lawfully cast.
Griffin, a Republican Court of Appeals judge, is narrowly competing against Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs. As it stands, Riggs leads Griffin by 734 votes out of more than 5.5 million ballots submitted in the November 5 election. The outcome of this race remains uncalled.
Recently, the State Board of Elections voted to dismiss protests related to the election. Typically, a candidate seeking to challenge these results would appeal to Wake County Superior Court. However, Griffin has opted to take his appeal directly to the Supreme Court, requesting a decision by Monday to prevent certification of the election results in favor of Riggs. His campaign indicates that Griffin should concede the race.
Griffin’s legal team argues that a delay will allow the justices to review his objections regarding three specific categories of ballots that should not be counted. With five out of seven members of the Supreme Court being Republicans, the court has been a focal point of partisan disputes surrounding issues like redistricting and voter identification.
Earlier in the month, the state Democratic Party filed a federal lawsuit aimed at ensuring the validity of the ballots, arguing that invalidating these ballots would violate both the U.S. Constitution and election laws. Concerns have been raised that the Supreme Court may align with Republican interests, jeopardizing Riggs’ victory. By proceeding directly to the Supreme Court, Griffin’s team aims to avoid potential delays if Democrats attempt to escalate the situation to federal court.
The categories of objection include ballots from voters without proper identification, overseas voters who have never resided in the U.S., and military or overseas voters who failed to provide required photo IDs.
The State Board of Elections, predominantly made up of Democrats, has sided against Griffin, labeling his protests as lacking substantive evidence of election irregularities. In their ruling, they emphasized no reasonable basis had been presented to justify the discounting of votes.
Griffin’s attorney dismissed claims that the petition serves to retroactively alter election laws, noting that the requirements for voter registration have been in place since 2004, with residency requirements extending back to 1776.
Despite these arguments, the board’s chair voiced that discarding votes from registered voters undermines democratic principles and should not be accepted.
The dismissed protests also extend to three Republican legislative candidates in close races, with further appeals set for a Board of Elections hearing. One notable race involves Republican state Rep. Frank Sossamon, who trails Democratic challenger Bryan Cohn by approximately 230 votes. If Cohn prevails, Republican representation may fall short of a veto-proof majority in the upcoming General Assembly session.
