Major developments took place last week in the ongoing campaign by losing candidate Jefferson Griffin to steal the NC Supreme Court seat won by incumbent Justice Allison Riggs. Griffin has asked the NC Supreme Court to intervene in the case by beginning to selectively disqualify up to 60,000 North Carolina citizens who legally voted in last year’s general election.
NC Supreme Court Ruling
Last week, the NC Supreme Court rejected Griffin’s request that it immediately take up and rule on his extraordinary after-the-election challenges to large categories of voters on purely technical state data records-keeping grounds. (Griffin and his Republican Party group allies have submitted no evidence to show that any of the voters challenged were not legally qualified to vote or that they voted without the required proof of identity.) Instead, the Court sent the case down to the trial level for hearing and evidence on Griffin’s claims.
Over the objection of the Court’s only Democratic member who is participating in deciding the case, the court left in place its earlier order staying the State Board of Elections from certifying Riggs’ election victory, despite that victory’s confirmation by two separate recounts. This is the only statewide election in the nation that has not yet been certified.
Fundamental Questions of Voter Rights
Before the state trial court has a chance to take up the case, there will be a hearing before the federal Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. That court is scheduled to hear arguments today (Monday, January 27) over whether the case belongs in federal or state court. The Riggs campaign, the State Board of Elections, and other parties all say that the case involves fundamental questions of voter rights under federal statute and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and therefore needs to be decided in federal court. Griffin and the Republican Party intervenors hope instead to have the case heard in North Carolina state court, where the ultimate judicial decision-maker would be the existing Republican majority on the very NC Supreme Court that Griffin is seeking to join.
Constitutional and Elections Law Scholars’ Brief
Eight constitutional and elections law scholars filed an amicus brief with the Fourth Circuit last week warning that a ruling in Griffin’s favor on his claims to disqualify voters in selected groups after the election would threaten American democracy itself. The scholars compared Griffin’s efforts to the electoral manipulations by authoritarian leaders in countries like Venezuela and Hungary.
The scholars wrote in their brief, “This is no ordinary legal dispute. Alarm bells should be ringing. If we saw this happening in another country, we would know what to call it.”
Even Republican Groups Oppose Griffin’s Efforts
Other third-party observers were equally harsh in their criticisms. A Republican-led conservative election watchdog group, RightCount Action, is even running television ads challenging Griffin’s voter challenge claims. The ad features a Republican voter in Moore County, James Danz, saying that he voted for Trump and Griffin last year. “I voted Republican my whole life. Now politicians are trying to cancel my vote,” said Danz. “Regardless of how you vote, all of us need to stand together to stop this attack on our elections.”
Other groups opposing Griffin’s scheme further point out the discriminatory nature of his challenges. For example, Griffin is challenging military and other overseas ballots first in just four heavily Democratic-leaning counties out of the total 100 counties in North Carolina.
Griffin is blatantly manipulating the nature of his categorical challenges to target groups of voters more likely to have supported his opponent, Riggs.
It’s time for the federal courts to put an end to Griffin’s dangerous farce.
