Five months after the end of the 2024 election, a North Carolina court seemed poised to undo the results of the state’s Supreme Court election. Ruling in favor of their colleague, Jefferson Griffin, the appeals court gave voters 15 business days to “fix deficiencies” to their registration. As reported by the Associated Press, the legal challenge could invalidate over 65,000 ballots in the 2024 state Supreme Court election.
Last November, Griffin lost to incumbent Justice Allison Riggs by 734 votes. Despite two recounts, confirming Riggs’ narrow victory, Griffin continued to try to undo the election results. Judge Tobias Hampson issued a 66-page dissent sharply critiquing the decision by his Republican colleagues, calling the ruling “an act of mass disenfranchisement.” He further emphasized that if the court’s decision goes into effect, it would apply rules that did not exist at the time people voted.
Among those challenged are people with allegedly “incomplete” voter registrations and overseas voters who cast absentee ballots, including military voters. Griffin and his supporters failed to take action on these alleged issues before his loss in the 2024 election. Calling the Court of Appeals decision “deeply misinformed,” Riggs vowed to continue fighting for the rights of all voters.
Down ballot elections like the state supreme court often do not have the same attention as other statewide elections like governor or attorney general. But in recent years, the right’s capture of court majorities has led to renewed interest in the influence and power of the state judiciary. Post-election voter challenges can burden voters who “did everything right.” Griffin’s focus on “lawful votes” seemingly builds on Republican efforts to restrict ballot access and whose vote counts. In this case, challenged voters did nothing wrong and cast their ballots in good faith based on their active voter registrations.
In a statement issued Friday, the North Carolina State Board of Elections outlined some possible next steps if the court’s decision goes into effect but noted the likelihood of appeal.
“If the court’s decision does go into effect, the State Board of Elections will provide instructions to affected voters on how to comply with the court’s decision,” read the board’s statement. “Regardless of the ultimate outcome of this ongoing legal dispute, any voter who is concerned that their voter registration information is incomplete or is not up to date should submit an updated voter registration form.”
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