Allison Riggs Prevails in Recount of NC Supreme Court Race and Calls for Dismissal of Challenges

At the end of the statewide machine recount of votes, Associate Justice Allison Riggs held her lead of 734 votes over challenger Judge Jefferson Griffin. Griffin requested a second recount by hand, and as usual in a contest this close it was allowed to move forward to its first stage, which is underway now. 

In this process, a randomly selected sample of 3% of the state’s voting precincts are recounted by hand. If the results show the statistical likelihood of enough change to alter the results, then all the state’s precincts would be recounted by hand. The counties are expected to complete the sample recounts this week. That’s the normal process under existing state law for a contest this close (less than 10,000 votes separation in a statewide race).

Overturning the Election

However, Griffin’s real strategy for overturning the election he lost goes far beyond these normal processes of confirming the accuracy of the vote count. His representatives are pushing to have 60,000 votes valid under current federal and state law thrown out. His case relies on seeking an after-the-election court-ordered change in the rules determining eligibility to vote, and the requirements to have those votes counted. Republican lawsuits asking for those changes in the law were rejected in state and federal cases decided prior to the election. 

Response to Challenges

Last week, attorneys for Justice Riggs filed her answer to Griffin’s claims for the hearing before the NC State Board of Elections (NCSBE). In their brief to the NCSBE, they said, “While [Judge Griffin’s] request is legally and constitutionally improper, it is wrong on an even more basic level—one familiar in every schoolyard in North Carolina. Whether playing a board game, competing in a sport, or running for public office, the runner-up cannot snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by asking for a redo under a different set of rules.”

The NC Democratic Party has gone a step further and filed their own lawsuit in federal court asking that the attempt by Griffin and Republicans to change the rules after the election be dismissed. 

Ballots Being Challenged

Most of the ballots being challenged by Griffin are the same the Republican Party lawsuits argued should be struck from the voter rolls prior to the election. Those arguments had been rejected by a unanimous, bipartisan vote of the NCSBE earlier this year. The board ruled in favor of evidence suggesting the claims of ineligibility were based on false assumptions and incomplete information. 

The arguments regarding eligibility were also rejected before the election by a federal judge appointed by Donald Trump during his first term. The trial judge’s decision was upheld by the Fourth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals.

We shall soon see whether Justice Riggs’ election victory is confirmed, or if Judge Griffin’s attempt to change the rules after the election moves forward by throwing out the ballots of eligible citizen voters.