Republican Jefferson Griffin wins NC appeals court challenge in case contesting 65K ballots
Posted 12:37 p.m. Today - Updated 1:35 p.m. Today
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State Court of Appeals rules in favor of Jefferson Griffin's effort to throw out 65K votes
By Will Doran , WRAL state government reporter
Thousands of North Carolina ballots in the 2024 election might have been counted illegally, the state Court of Appeals ruled Friday in a case that could determine the outcome of last year’s election for an open seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court.
The ruling is almost certain to be appealed. If the ruling stands, the State Board of Elections would be required to ask more than 60,000 voters to provide proof of their identity. Anyone who doesn’t respond will have their ballot thrown out — an outcome that could tilt the narrow race for the high-court seat in favor of the Republican candidate, Jefferson Griffin, who challenged the ballots.
The court also identified several hundred voters who it said should have their ballots thrown out no matter what, based on a new interpretation of the state constitution.
Griffin, who is a judge on the Court of Appeals, challenged Democratic incumbent Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs for her seat on the high court. Recounts showed that Riggs received 734 more votes than Griffin. But the winner of the race
hasn’t been made official, while Griffin challenges the voters' registration and the validity of their ballots.
Griffin, who has recused himself from the case, alleged three different types of rules were broken by some voters in the 2024 elections. He didn’t challenge all of the ballots that fell into those categories. Instead, he primarily targeted voters from certain demographics and counties that lean Democratic.
The North Carolina State Board of elections rejected Griffin's initial challenge, with board chairman Alan Hirsch calling Griffin’s efforts “anathema to the democratic system.” Griffin challenged the board’s decision in court; he
lost at trial in Wake County Superior Court before
taking his case to the Court of Appeals. Griffin has said that he expects to win the race if he prevails in having most of the ballots thrown out.
A spokesman for the board didn't immediately provide a comment on Friday, adding that the board was reviewing the ruling. A spokesperson for Griffin didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The ruling in favor of Griffin from his colleagues on the appeals court came in a party-line decision, as have many of the previous rulings in this case. The panel who heard the case had two Republican judges and one Democrat, and Griffin won in a 2-1 ruling with the Democratic judge dissenting.
A representative for the Riggs campaign also didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Anderson Clayton, chair of the state Democratic Party, said her organization will fight the decision. Riggs and state and national Democrats have been fighting Griffin’s challenge in related cases.
“The statewide Court of Appeals bench has cowered to political pressure and corruption from their own party,” Clayton said in a post on social media. “The NCGOP and RNC are trying to steal an election and test the waters for future election denial.”
North Carolina Republican Party spokesman Matt Mercer said the ruling vindicates Griffin and the state GOP, who have faced strong criticism for their attempts to reverse the results of the election.
“For months, Judge Griffin and the NCGOP have endured baseless attacks and incendiary rhetoric in this matter,” Mercer wrote in a statement. “Throughout this time, our position has been consistent: when the debate is about the merits, Judge Griffin will prevail in his election integrity concerns.”
This is a developing story. Check back
