A Decision From the Partisan State Appeals Court Could Undermine the Will of Voters

A divided NC Appeals Court panel chose to ignore state law and give new life to Jefferson Griffin’s attempt to throw out the legal votes of 65,000+ North Carolinians. It’s been five months since the election with still no certified results in this race, despite multiple recounts and rulings confirming Justice Allison Riggs’ victory. If this partisan court’s decision stands, it will rock the foundations of law and democracy in our state and potentially our country.

The Voters

The voters being challenged followed the law and rules as they were in effect at the time of the election, without notice that their votes were to be challenged. After the election—in which his defeat was confirmed by three separate counts—losing NC Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin demanded that the NC State Board of Elections retroactively disqualify categories of voters adding up to more than 65,000 voting citizens of North Carolina. The voter categories challenged were transparently selected because of the likelihood that they would contain more votes for the winning Democratic candidate Justice Allison Riggs than for losing candidate Griffin. 

The challenged ballots consist of eligible and often longtime voters, and include over 5,500 military and overseas absentee ballots and his opponent Allison Riggs’ own parents. Jefferson Griffin himself voted via an absentee ballot in 2020.

Two People Undoing 65,000+ Votes

The three-judge Appeals Court panel split along party lines, with the two Republican judges favoring their Court of Appeals Republican colleague Griffin. They explicitly ignored evidence that Griffin’s choice of challenges was manipulated to give him an advantage. 

“In our state, politicians have chosen their own voters through extreme gerrymandering. This decision takes it to the next level,” said Carrie Clark, executive director for the NC League of Conservation Voters. “In a country where people should have the power, two partisan judges should not undo the legal votes of over 65,000 North Carolinians.”

Dissenting panel member Judge Toby Hampson wrote in his dissent that the voters followed every rule they were told to during the election, and that Griffin shouldn’t be allowed to change the rules after the fact to throw out their ballots. “Changing the rules by which these lawful voters took part in our electoral process after the election to discard their otherwise valid votes in an attempt to alter the outcome of only one race among many on the ballot is directly counter to law, equity, and the Constitution,” Hampson wrote.

Test Case for Post-Election Challenges

This case has attracted nationwide attention, not only because the current NC Supreme Court has permitted extreme partisan gerrymandering to change the mix of representatives North Carolina sends to Congress, but also because it is viewed as a test case for what could become a wave of post-election challenges to winning candidates based on losers’ spurious claims of election rule violations.

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin called the ruling an assault on voting rights, and a strategy that he fears Republicans in other states will use in the future to overturn elections they lose. “This partisan decision has no legal basis and is an all-out assault on our democracy and the basic premise that voters decide who wins their elections, not the courts,” Martin said. “If upheld, this could allow politicians across the country to overturn the will of the people.”

What’s Next?

Justice Allison Riggs swiftly released a statement that she will appeal the decision to the NC Supreme Court. “We will be promptly appealing this deeply misinformed decision that threatens to disenfranchise more than 65,000 lawful voters and sets a dangerous precedent, allowing disappointed politicians to thwart the will of the people,” said Riggs. “North Carolinians elected me to keep my seat and I swore an oath to the constitution and the rule of law – so I will continue to stand up for the rights of voters in this state and stand in the way of those who would take power from the people.” 

Riggs, the NC State Board of Elections, and other parties fighting against the post-election voter disqualification effort have already indicated that they will return to federal court if the Republican-dominated NC Supreme Court rules for Griffin. Read more on the background and history of this case, and why it is crucial to the future of democracy and our environment in North Carolina.