North Carolina judge concedes race for state Supreme Court seat

RALEIGH, N.C. (CN) — North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin has conceded his race for a state Supreme Court seat, two days after a federal judge ruled against his election-related legal challenges.

Griffin filed election protests disputing over 65,000 ballots after straying his opponent, Associate Justice Allison Riggs, by 734 votes, despite two recounts. He made his case before the state elections board and all levels of the North Carolina court system, before failing to find success before a federal court judge.

A representative for the North Carolina Republican Party confirmed Monday that Griffin does not intend to appeal the decision to the Fourth Circuit.

“As a judge, I also often have respectful disagreements with my judicial peers. While I do not fully agree with the district court’s analysis, I respect the court’s holding — just as I have respected every judicial tribunal that has heard this case,” Griffin said in a statement. “I will not appeal the court’s decision.”

Griffin will continue to serve on the state court of appeals until 2029, when his term ends. Riggs, who was appointed to the position of associate justice by then-Governor Roy Cooper in 2023, will hold her seat for an eight-year term. She had continued to maintain her seat during the election challenge.

In his Monday order directing the state Board of Elections to certify the race after seven days, U.S. District Judge Richard Myers II affirmed the results of the 2024 election and dismissed Griffin’s post-election challenges.

“You establish the rules before the game,” Myers said. “You don’t change them after the game is done.”

Myers, a Donald Trump appointee, found that discarding the ballots of hundreds of “never residents” — U.S. citizens voting in North Carolina who have never lived in the state — would harm misclassified voters and “violates procedural due process and represents an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote.”

The North Carolina Supreme Court had previously directed that these ballots be separated and removed from the final vote total in the race, despite their votes having counted in all other races on their ballot, as this remains the final uncertified race in the state.

“After millions of dollars spent, more than 68,000 voters at risk of losing their votes, thousands of volunteers mobilized, hundreds of legal documents filed, and immeasurable damage done to our democracy, I’m glad the will of the voters was finally heard, six months and two days after Election Day,” Riggs said Wednesday. “It’s been my honor to lead this fight — even though it should never have happened — and I’m in awe of the North Carolinians whose courage reminds us all that we can use our voices to hold accountable any politician who seeks to take power out of the hands of the people.”

The ballots Griffin challenged, which were cast early and by mail, would have been the only ones that the state board of elections would be able to easily identify and remove from the final ballot count. The bulk of the ballots Griffin disputed — over 60,000 — are North Carolina residents who registered to vote using an old form that didn’t require them to provide a driver’s license number or Social Security number. He also challenged thousands of ballots cast by overseas and military voters who were not required to provide copies of photo identification while voting, unlike other voters in the state, along with those cast by never residents in a select few urban counties.

Griffin’s election protests were fiercely opposed by activists and the public, and several Republicans voiced opposition to his legal challenges. The North Carolina Democratic Party filed suit, claiming that removing or curing ballots after the election is illegal retroactive voter roll maintenance that would inherently disenfranchise voters.

“Throughout this process, Judge Griffin has demonstrated integrity, courage, and a steadfast commitment to the rule of law,” a representative for the North Carolina Republican Party said in a statement. “He and his family have withstood vicious attacks, smears, and lies for raising these issues. Judge Griffin deserves the appreciation of every North Carolinian for highlighting the appalling mismanagement, inaccurate data, and partisan behavior from the prior state Board of Elections — failures affirmed by multiple courts, including the highest court in our state.”

The state elections board will certify the election on Tuesday, May 13th.

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