In a major development in the only unresolved race from the 2024 general election, a North Carolina appeals court ruled Friday in favor of Republican Jefferson Griffin, potentially overturning the result of a razor-thin state Supreme Court contest.
The decision could unseat Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs, who led Griffin by just 734 votes after two recounts in a race that saw over 5.5 million ballots cast.
The 2-1 decision from a panel on the Court of Appeals determined that tens of thousands of ballots were improperly counted. The court ordered the State Board of Elections to give certain voters approximately 15 business days to provide missing information, such as photo identification, or face having their ballots tossed. The challenged ballots are widely believed to favor Riggs, and their disqualification could tilt the outcome in Griffin’s favor.
The court found that the State Board of Elections erred when it dismissed Griffin’s postelection protests in December. Griffin, who currently serves on the Court of Appeals, recused himself from the case, leaving his colleagues to rule on the matter.
“Free elections under … the North Carolina Constitution include the right to an accurate counting of votes,” wrote Judges John Tyson and Fred Gore, both Republicans. “Griffin has a legal right to inquire into this outcome through the statutorily-enacted and postelection procedures available to him.”
Griffin’s protest had challenged over 65,000 ballots across three categories. In two of those categories, voters can still salvage their ballots by submitting the required information. But in the third category—ballots cast by overseas voters who have never lived in the U.S.—Tyson and Gore ruled that those votes should not be counted at all.
Riggs’ attorneys and the state elections board argue that the ballots were cast legally under established rules that have governed previous elections, and that changing those rules retroactively undermines the integrity of the process. Riggs’ supporters have held rallies urging Griffin to concede, accusing him of trying to reverse a lawful election result.
Dissenting Judge Toby Hampson, a Democrat, criticized the ruling, writing, “To accept Petitioner’s indiscriminate efforts to call into doubt the votes of tens of thousands of otherwise eligible voters, without showing any challenged voter was disqualified under existing law from voting is to elevate speculation and surmise over evidence and reason.”
The case is expected to be appealed to the state Supreme Court, where five of the six remaining justices are Republicans. Riggs has recused herself from deliberations. If the state appeal fails, her legal team has indicated they may take the case to federal court.
Reporting by the Associated Press contributed to this story.
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