As pro-polluter legislators attempt to nullify statewide election results through legislative fiat, attacks also continue on the integrity of our state election process.
Top Legislator Attacks Election Integrity
In a statement which alarmed state elections officials, Senate Republican Majority Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) told reporters on November 20 that “we’re seeing played out at this point another episode of ‘Count Until Somebody You Want to Win Wins.’” Berger appeared to be referring to the extremely close State Supreme Court contest, implying without evidence that some form of fraud or illegal manipulation of the process was taking place.
At that point, the normal process of reviewing absentee and provisional ballots was nearing completion. The process was taking longer for many counties this year in part because the high voter turnout and recently implemented voter photo ID requirements resulted in a large number of provisional ballots to be reviewed. As the trailing candidate, Republican nominee Jefferson Griffin had already requested a recount ahead of the deadline for such requests, noon on November 19.
Threats to Election Workers
Responding to Berger’s statement, the executive director of the NC State Board of Elections, Karen Brinson Bell, called for him to retract his comment, saying that it could lead to threats and the danger of violence against election workers. In a written message to Berger, Brinson Bell said, “You are a top leader of our state government. What you say matters. When you tell your fellow citizens that an election is being conducted fraudulently, they listen.” She added that his suggestion “has no basis in fact” and that the hundreds of Republican and Democratic members of county boards of elections “were duty-bound to count eligible provisional and absentee ballots” before they could certify election results to the state board.
Brinson Bell noted that the risk of threats or violence against election workers “is not an idle worry. We watched this play out in the wake of the 2020 elections, in state after state, after other political leaders made similar baseless accusations of wrongdoing. It led to the exodus of seasoned workers from the elections profession. And it led to untold amounts of emotional distress experienced by hardworking, salt-of-the-earth public servants. Election workers, including in this state, will bear those scars. And the fallout continues, with citizens still being told regularly by political leaders, social media personalities, and foreign malign actors that elections are not to be trusted. Your comments, I fear, only contribute to this unacceptable reality in a very significant way, due to your position of authority. I ask you, What sort of free society do we have when the people running elections fear for their lives?”
Griffin Challenges Ballots
Ironically, trailing candidate Jefferson Griffin is now dragging out the process of completing certification of the election by adding more challenges to be considered by the state board of elections. The routine recount of ballots, which he requested, is nearing completion. All observers agree that this recount in an extremely close election is a normal part of the process to which the trailing candidate is entitled.
However, Griffin’s attorneys have also filed an unusual challenge to 60,000 voters whose ballots were counted. And just 15 minutes before the State Board of Elections was set to convene a meeting to discuss that challenge, the Board members learned that Griffin had filed a last-minute motion for one of the Board members to be removed from that discussion.
The challenged Board member, Siobhan Millen, one of the Board’s three Democrats, is married to attorney Pressly Millen, a partner in the large law firm Womble Bond Dickinson. Griffin’s opponent, Associate Justice Allison Riggs, is represented by another attorney in that law firm. However, Pressly Millen points out that his firm has in place a standard rule prohibiting him from any discussion or communications about the case with that attorney, in order to avoid creating a conflict of interest.
The State Board of Elections will consider Griffin’s challenges at a meeting in December.
