NC elections board must follow Supreme Court plan in last unresolved 2024 election
A federal judge has intervened in the ongoing legal battle over the last unresolved 2024 election in the country, ordering the North Carolina Board of Elections to implement a recent decision by the state Supreme Court. The decision, issued on Friday, partially overturned a ruling by the Court of Appeals that had favored Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin. Griffin is currently trailing Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs by a narrow margin of 734 votes out of more than 5.5 million cast in the election for a seat on the state’s highest court.
The state Supreme Court’s decision addressed multiple categories of challenged ballots, with the largest group consisting of approximately 60,000 voters whose records lacked a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number. The court ruled that these voters should not have been disenfranchised due to errors made by election officials in collecting numerical identifiers. The decision emphasized that these voters ultimately proved their identity by complying with the state’s new photo ID law, and therefore their votes should be counted.
While the Supreme Court ordered the removal of some challenged ballots, it also allowed for the inclusion of votes from other contested categories. These included ballots from military and overseas voters, who would have the opportunity to submit a photo identification or an ID exception form to ensure their votes are counted. Additionally, votes from U.S. citizen voters who have never lived in North Carolina or the United States were to be removed from the count.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision, the State Board of Elections announced that it would provide detailed instructions to affected counties and voters on how to comply with the ruling. However, both Riggs and the Board of Elections had previously indicated plans to return to federal court if necessary, should the justices side with Griffin and potentially violate federal elections and voting rights laws.
U.S. Chief District Judge Richard Myers, nominated by President Donald Trump, issued an order on Saturday directing the state Board of Elections to implement the Supreme Court’s plan to resolve the election dispute. Myers set a deadline of April 15 for the board to provide details on its remedial efforts and instructed both parties to submit briefs in the case by April 20 and April 28.
The judge also ordered the state Supreme Court not to certify the election results pending further orders from the federal court. The outcome of the outstanding ballots could potentially impact the election results, with Griffin and Riggs both vying for the seat on the state’s highest court.
In response to the ruling, Riggs hosted a rally in Raleigh, emphasizing the importance of protecting the votes of military personnel, missionaries, foreign service officers, and students studying abroad. Republican strategist Paul Schumaker, representing Griffin, expressed support for the thorough review of the case and criticized Riggs for seeking to litigate the matter outside of the courts.
The legal battle over the North Carolina Supreme Court election continues to unfold, with the federal court now playing a pivotal role in determining the outcome of the closely contested race.
