North Carolina’s Republican candidate for the state’s Supreme Court is arguing that 60,000 ballots should be tossed out following the November election. The Democratic incumbent, Justice Allison Riggs, is expected to hold on to her seat after a partial recount. Results show she won the election by 734 votes.
Riggs’ challenger, Republican Justice Jefferson Griffin, contested the victory, pointing to thousands of people he said illegally voted.
However, a machine recount and partial hand recount of millions of ballots upheld the results, showing Riggs continues to hold the lead.
Griffin, who currently serves as an appeals judge, alleges voters didn’t put a driver’s license number or the last four digits of their social security number when registering to cast their ballot. It’s a requirement, Griffin said, that has been in place for the last 20 years.
Griffin also said overseas voters who never lived in the state were able to cast a ballot, adding that because their parents are residents of the state, they were able to vote on Election Day.
These arguments are expected to go in front of the State Board of Elections on Wednesday, Dec. 11, as Griffin’s lawyers ask for ballot tallies to be corrected, seek another recount or an entirely new election altogether.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Riggs have countered the claims, saying anyone who tried to vote would have had to show a valid ID.
“Whether playing a board game, competing in a sport, or running for office, the runner-up cannot snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by asking for a redo under a different set of rules,” Riggs’ lawyers wrote in a brief.
In response to the numerous filings, the state’s Democratic Party is using its own lawsuit to block the State Board of Elections from throwing out any disputed ballots.
“We are trying to make sure that people are raising their voices, that we are filing lawsuits where we can,” Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton said during a press conference on Tuesday, Dec. 10.
Clayton said she’s concerned the Supreme Court will remove the ballots and side with the GOP in this case.
“We are also trusting the process of our Board of Elections officials to do their job and to count every single vote,” Clayton also said.
Griffin’s claims are similar to a lawsuit brought just days before the November election. Both the Republican National Committee and North Carolina’s Republican Party wanted to remove more than a quarter of a million voters for allegedly not properly registering. A federal judge rejected those arguments.
The race in North Carolina is being closely watched as Republicans try to hold on to their majority in the state’s Supreme Court. However, with Riggs’ seat, Democrats could chip away at control over the next several years.
The Associated Press has not officially announced a winner in North Carolina’s Supreme Court race.