NC elections officials seek to fast-track state Supreme Court race battle

The North Carolina Board of Elections asked the state Supreme Court to use its power to bypass the state Court of Appeals and take up Republican Jefferson Griffin’s election challenge — a case that could determine whether Griffin wins a seat on the high court.

Griffin, currently a state appeals judge, finished the November general election more than 700 votes behind Democratic incumbent Justice Allison Riggs. The slim margin was upheld by two statewide recounts, but the result hasn’t been certified while Griffin challenges the eligibility of tens of thousands of voters.

Backed by the North Carolina Republican Party, Griffin challenged the results in court. He alleges that about 62,000 voters who voted early or via absentee ballot were not eligible to vote for various reasons — such as missing information from the voter rolls or lack of ID. He contends that those votes shouldn’t be counted in his race. The elections board denied Griffin’s initial challenge. Griffin is suing to reverse the board’s decision.

Griffin first petitioned the state Supreme Court weeks ago to take up the case directly, seeking to skip the trial phase and potential lower appellate review. At that time, the high court ruled against his request, ultimately sending the case back to Superior Court.

A Feb. 7 hearing in Wake County Superior Court resulted in a ruling in the election board’s favor, denying Griffin’s request to throw out the challenged votes. Griffin has appealed that ruling.

In its petition to the Supreme Court, the state elections board says the case raises legal issues of “exceptional public importance,” and should be settled as soon as possible.

Craig Schauer, a lawyer for Griffin, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Data errors

According to an affidavit filed this month by the elections board’s general counsel, Paul Cox, elections officials were able to quickly verify all required information for 31,167 of the 62,027 challenged voters. The problem, Cox said, was caused by mismatches due to errors in various state databases. Cox said the other cases would need to be individually researched by their respective county boards of elections.

On Monday, as the Supreme Court considered the state’s petition, a large crowd gathered in downtown Raleigh to call on Griffin to drop his election challenge and concede defeat.

"The county board of election says, 'Oh your name had a hyphen in it or you had two last names so it just didn’t verify,'" said Gino Nuzzolini, a spokesman for Common Cause NC, a group that helped organize protests Monday against Griffin. "So, because of tiny clerical errors that were no fault of the voters, their voice might be taken away."

Shaw student Kinyon McClain said 2024 was the first time he had ever voted. He said it was disheartening to learn his ballot was one of the 62,000 in Griffin’s protest.

"This is about being a part of something," McClain told WRAL. "This is about mattering as a U.S. citizen."

Raleigh voter Jenna Marrocco’s eligibility is also being challenged.

"[It] makes me feel like my vote doesn't matter a little bit, especially for a first-time voter," she said.

Matt Mercer, a spokesman for the state Republican Party, said demonstrators Monday were "protesting against following the law and counting the legal votes of North Carolina citizens."