RALEIGH, N.C. — In a close race for the North Carolina Supreme Court, Republican Jefferson Griffin is asking the court to stop election officials from counting over 60,000 ballots, claiming they were not legally cast.
Griffin, a member of the state Court of Appeals, is trailing Democratic Justice Allison Riggs by 734 votes out of more than 5.5 million ballots in the November 5 election. After recounts and hearings, Riggs still leads, but the race has not been officially called by the Associated Press.
Last week, the State Board of Elections dismissed Griffin’s complaints about the ballots. Normally, candidates in this situation would appeal to a lower court, but Griffin went straight to the state Supreme Court. He wants the justices to block Riggs from being officially declared the winner and to delay the deadline for filing appeals in lower courts.
Griffin argues that three groups of ballots should not be counted:
- Ballots cast by voters without full ID records (like missing Social Security numbers or driver’s licenses).
- Votes from people born overseas who never lived in the U.S. but whose parents were North Carolina residents.
- Votes from military or overseas voters who didn’t include photo ID copies with their ballots.
The State Board of Elections, made up of three Democrats and two Republicans, rejected Griffin’s complaints in mostly party-line votes. Board Chair Alan Hirsch said discarding legal votes is unacceptable in a democracy.
Griffin’s attorneys argue that election rules about voter registration and residency have been in place for years and must be followed. Meanwhile, Riggs has declared herself the winner and called on Griffin to concede.
The case has drawn attention because North Carolina’s Supreme Court, currently controlled by five Republicans out of seven members, has been involved in major political battles over voting rights and redistricting.
The state Democratic Party has also filed a lawsuit in federal court to protect the ballots Griffin is challenging, saying throwing them out would violate the U.S. Constitution. They worry that the Republican-led Supreme Court could side with Griffin, putting Riggs’ victory in danger.
This isn’t just about the Supreme Court race. Similar challenges have been filed by three Republican candidates trailing in state legislative races. One of those races is especially important because if the Republican candidate loses, their party won’t have enough seats to override a governor’s veto next year.