Democrats blast ‘rock bottom maneuver’ to throw out 60,000 ballots in NC Supreme Court race
North Carolina’s contentious legal battle over the results of the state Supreme Court race is now getting national attention.
The Democratic National Committee has stepped into the fray, intervening in one of the legal cases and attempting to draw public attention to what Chair Jaime Harrison on Monday called a “rock bottom maneuver to circumvent the will of North Carolina voters.”
Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs appears to have won the race by 734 votes — a lead which has been affirmed by two recounts of the results.
But her opponent, Republican Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin, has challenged the validity of over 60,000 ballots cast in the race, arguing that the state allowed ineligible voters to participate.
His claims largely rely on legal arguments about voter registration requirements which have so far been rejected by state and federal courts.
On Monday, the DNC held a press call alongside former Gov. Roy Cooper and state party chair Anderson Clayton to denounce Griffin’s efforts.
“A man who is running to sit on a bench to uphold the laws is now actively — to this day — trying every trick in the book to defy them,” Clayton said.
Matt Mercer, communications director for the NC GOP, defended the challenges, noting that Republicans had contested the registration practices at hand before the election.
“Democrats are trying to short circuit the rule of law in order to preserve an electoral outcome,” Mercer said in an email to The News & Observer. “... Judge Griffin and the NC GOP are fighting to count every legal vote in this important election.”
The State Board of Elections, which has a 3 to 2 Democratic majority, rejected Griffin’s claims in mostly party-line votes last month. However, he appealed the board’s ruling to the courts in a case which has now ping-ponged between state and federal jurisdictions.
Last week, the North Carolina Supreme Court issued an order blocking the state from certifying Riggs as the winner of the election while it considers Griffin’s challenge.
The case is currently advancing simultaneously in state and federal court.
The state Supreme Court has ordered both parties to submit their final briefs by Jan. 24. Oral arguments could be held as early as Feb. 11, when the court sits for its first term of the year.
However, the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear the case first.
Oral arguments will be held in Richmond on Jan. 27, meaning the federal appeals court will likely weigh in before the state Supreme Court can.
Judge rejects separate effort to throw out ballots
On Friday, a Superior Court judge in Wake County denied a separate request from the NC GOP and Republican National Committee to throw out the 60,000 contested ballots in an expedited process.
“Simply put, there is not any irreparable harm that the court can imagine would arise by delaying the relief sought until the matter can be fully litigated on the merits with everybody getting the chance to be heard,” Judge William Pittman said in court.
This case was an offshoot of Griffin’s challenge which, while making no explicit mention of the Supreme Court race, nonetheless made the same arguments about voter eligibility and sought the same outcome.
Jordan Koonts, the Republicans’ attorney, argued that the State Board of Elections had failed to implement proper voter registration requirements.
“We’re not asking that laws be tinkered with, we’re asking that they be enforced,” he said.
Attorneys for the State Board of Elections and the DNC, which intervened in the case, cast the lawsuit as an attempt to redo cases that Republicans have already lost in other venues.
In fact, the attorneys noted, the same arguments are currently being litigated in four other lawsuits in state and federal courts.
“It is unbelievable that the democratic processes in this state keep going through the same attack over and over and over again despite being resolved,” Shana Fulton, an attorney representing the DNC, said.
This story was originally published January 13, 2025 at 4:09 PM with the headline "Democrats blast ‘rock bottom maneuver’ to throw out 60,000 ballots in NC Supreme Court race."
