RALEIGH — One of the candidates in the contested North Carolina Supreme Court race has asked that court to intervene in that race by blocking protest dismissals issued by the North Carolina State Board of Elections that took place during a Dec. 11 board meeting.
Republican Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin, who trails by 734 votes in the still uncertified race against Democrat Associate Justice Allison Riggs, filed the request late on Dec. 18 with the state Supreme Court. Two recounts have been conducted in the race: a machine recount and a partial hand-to-eye recount.
Griffin’s legal team’s 3,992-page Writ of Prohibition is seeking a temporary stay before Monday, aiming to prevent the certification of Riggs’ victory and extend the 10-day deadline for filing a judicial review petition to be filed in Wake County Superior Court and asking the court to stop the N.C. State Board of Elections (NCSBE) from “counting unlawful ballots.”
Griffin’s filing contends that these election law questions should be handled by state courts rather than federal courts, following the nation’s system of state and federal separation. Additionally, he argues that the NCSBE has been making decisions that violate North Carolina’s laws, therefore seeking intervention by the state Supreme Court to “supervise inferior tribunals.”
“Judge Griffin asks the Court to issue a writ of prohibition that prohibits the State Board from counting ballots cast in violation of North Carolina’s statutes and constitution,” Griffin’s filing states. “As explained below, the State Board has continued to issue rulings and administer our elections in violation of North Carolina law, and the Board’s lawlessness cannot be allowed to continue.”
In a Dec. 11 meeting, the Democrat-majority controlled NCSBE rejected most of Griffin’s more than 300 protests, which challenged over 60,000 ballots statewide the protests outline as unlawfully cast.
At that meeting, Griffin’s attorney explained those ballots violate North Carolina’s statutory requirements for multiple reasons, such as incomplete voter registrations with missing data, nonresident voters and overseas ballots lacking photo ID verifications.
Griffin’s attorneys also raised the fact that these issues had been brought to the NCSBE in a lawsuit in 2023, yet the NCSBE failed to correct those records.
“Now those chickens have come home to roost,” Griffin’s filing states. “In the 2024 general election, the Board’s errors changed the outcome of the election for the open seat on this Court. When those errors were raised again in valid election protests, the Board then claimed that it was too late to fix its law-breaking.”
To compound matters, the filing by Griffin’s attorneys also notes that NCSBE Chair Alan Hirsch dismissed Griffin’s motion for member Siobhan Millen to disqualify herself due to the fact her husband represents Riggs.
“The State Board, however, refused to disqualify Ms. Millen and, instead, allowed her to be the deciding vote on many of two of the three categories of protests,” wrote Griffin’s attorneys.
The decisions from the NCSBE’s Dec. 11 meeting mainly hinged on Democratic members of the board believing voters were not adequately notified of challenges to their ballots despite voters receiving postcards — which contained QR codes to obtain full details — alerting them to the challenge.
The protest rejections were finalized in a Dec. 13 order issued by the NCSBE.
The filing comes ahead of the NCSBE’s scheduled meeting on Dec. 20 to address the final unresolved protests from Griffin and three Republican legislative candidates.
In a statement, N.C. Republican Party Chairman Jason Simmons backed the Griffin filing.
“The people of North Carolina deserve confidence in the administration of elections,” said Simmons. “Safeguarding election integrity is critical to ensuring trust in the democratic process and the only way to protect the voices of lawful voters. The State Board of Elections has not been fair or transparent, and it is by their actions alone we have no other choice than to take this step.”
“Judge Griffin has led efforts to seek accountability and restore integrity while the State Board has been dragging its feet and ignoring the law,” Simmons said. “The people of North Carolina deserve clarity and confidence in the electoral process.”
North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton decried the filing.
“There is a five alarm fire happening in North Carolina right now, and the rest of the country should pay close attention,” Clayton said in statement. “For the past month, Judge Jefferson Griffin has refused to face reality and admit that he lost the Supreme Court race to Justice Allison Riggs. Instead, he has wasted taxpayer dollars, tried to toss out the ballots of over 60,000 North Carolinians, and attempted to find any way to overturn the will of the people.”
Clayton called it “a truly outlandish move,” and criticized both Griffin and the current N.C. Supreme Court chief justice.
“Jefferson Griffin is hiding behind Chief Justice Paul Newby and he is now trying to achieve what’s been aiming for all along: getting the Republican-controlled state Supreme Court to toss out legitimate ballots and hand this seat to him,” said Clayton. “There have been multiple recounts that all confirmed that Justice Riggs won this seat by 734 votes. His conduct continues to demonstrate that he is not fit to serve on the Court. Concede now.”
