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By Sean O'Driscoll
Senior Crime and Courts Reporter
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A North Carolina Supreme Court justice has issued a warning over a decision to discount tens of thousands of votes in her election race—the final unresolved ballot in the November 2024 elections.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals on April 4 sided with Republican Jefferson Griffin's argument that more than 65,000 votes should be tossed out, including those of military members serving overseas. The ruling, which is set to be appealed, would give voters 15 days to address what the courts have deemed deficiencies and allow their votes to count.
"This does not just affect North Carolina," Democrat Allison Riggs told voting rights group Democracy Docket in an interview on Friday. "This is like dropping a match in a really dry forest. And if we let this kind of anti-democratic effort take hold, we will not be able to contain it. So this is a fight for the very soul of democracy. Today's decision was deeply misinformed."
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Griffin argued election boards failed in their duty to contact existing registered voters whose electronic records did not show a driver's license or social security number.
Appeals court judge Toby Hampson, the one Democrat on the three-judge appeal panel, also sharply criticized his colleagues for the decision.
Why It Matters
The case could have a crucial role in deciding the makeup of the North Carolina Supreme Court and could cause major partisan division in the state.
Newsweek sought email comment from the campaigns of Allison Riggs and Jefferson Griffin on Monday.
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What To Know
Riggs held a 734-vote lead over Republican Griffin in the race for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court, in which over 5.5 million ballots were cast in November 2024, during the same round of voting as the presidential elections.
Riggs told Democratic Docket on Friday: "If people in power can decide that an election result stands only if they like who wins, then nothing that we depend on for our rights, our freedoms, our liberties, good governance, none of that works if that basic tool gets broken. So this is a fight for this entire country.
"It's the government tossing ballots after an election when people did everything that was asked of them."
Griffin launched a legal challenge and on April 4, a three-judge panel of the North Carolina court of appeals ruled 2-1 that the state's elections board erred in dismissing Griffin's protests about invalid election ballots.
The case is particularly controversial as Griffin sits on the Court of Appeals and recused himself from the case, allowing a Republican 2-1 majority to vote in his favor.
In doing so, it continued the long-running case, the last disputed result in the November elections. Riggs continues to sit on the North Carolina Supreme Court while the legal challenges continue.
At the heart of the dispute are voters who did not supply a valid state ID or the last four digits of their Social Security number when registering to vote. Other absentee or military voters did not supply a copy of their ID exception forms with their ballots.
However, the appeals court has not struck out these ballots completely and has given the voters concerned 15 business days to provide the necessary ID. Over 65,000 voters must provide the necessary ID. If just 800 fail to do so, the election will likely be won by Griffin.
In a hard-hitting dissenting opinion, Toby Hampson, the one Democrat on the three-judge appeal court panel, criticized Griffin's "indiscriminate efforts to call into doubt the votes of tens of thousands of otherwise eligible voters, without any showing any challenged voter was disqualified under existing law."
Hampson wrote that this was "to elevate speculation and surmise over evidence and reason."
He also had some harsh words for the court's two-judge Republican majority.
"At best, the majority's decision and completely unworkable remedy will lead to even more litigation—both state and federal. Tying this matter up in interminable litigation with no end in sight only results in delay, confusion, and sowing further doubt that every valid vote will be counted," he wrote.
What People Are Saying
Judge Jefferson Griffin's campaign committee welcomed the Appeals Court's decision. "We stand by the process of allowing the State Board a second chance to do its job and ensure that only eligible voters cast ballots in our elections," they wrote in a statement.
Judge Allison Riggs said in a statement that the Court of Appeals ruling was a "deeply misinformed decision that threatens to disenfranchise more than 65,000 lawful voters and sets a dangerous precedent, allowing disappointed politicians to thwart the will of the people."
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What Happens Next
Riggs said she will appeal. "Today's decision was deeply misinformed and I will promptly appeal it. But I want folks to know, I think this fight ends in federal court. I've been telling people that all along," she told the political website Democracy Docket on April 4.
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