Federal Judge Orders Certification of North Carolina Court Race Results

A U.S. District Judge has decreed that all contested ballots in the unresolved 2024 race for a North Carolina Supreme Court position must be included in the official results. This ruling could potentially secure the victory for the current Democratic holder, Allison Riggs.

Judge Richard Myers sided with Riggs and her supporters, arguing that recent rulings to discard thousands of ballots on the basis of being invalid violated the U.S. Constitution. He emphasized that such actions, taken six months post-election, breached the due process and equal protection rights of citizens.

Myers has also instructed the State Board of Elections to officially recognize the results which, after two recounts, declared Riggs the winner by a slim margin of 734 votes over her opponent, Republican Jefferson Griffin. Nonetheless, the judge allowed a one-week suspension to let Griffin possibly appeal the decision to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The state board is now directed to forgo implementing prior directives from the North Carolina Court of Appeals and Supreme Court and instead to ratify the election outcome based on the latest canvassed results, as stated by Myers, a Trump appointee.

Over 5.5 million people cast their votes in what was the final undecided contest from last November’s polls. Post-election, Griffin sought to challenge the vote, arguing that removing allegedly illegal ballots would shift the result in his favor.

Griffin’s attorney team spent Monday evaluating Myers' ruling, said campaign representative Paul Shumaker in a statement.

In contrast, Riggs expressed satisfaction, asserting her commitment to safeguarding the Constitution and upholding the law in her role as North Carolina's Supreme Court Justice.

Griffin proposed that Myers maintain the verdicts from state courts, which recommended allowing voters whose ballots faced scrutiny 30 days to verify their eligibility to have their votes remain part of the count.

Riggs, alongside the state's Democratic Party and affected citizens, argued that Griffin’s efforts amounted to retroactively altering the election outcome, unfairly targeting voters who adhered to the regulations in place last fall.

Judge Myers pointed out that Griffin’s challenges, primarily concerning photo ID issues and primarily affecting six Democratic-leaning counties, attempted to retroactively adjust election regulations and disenfranchise targeted voters.

“One must establish the rules before participation, not alter them afterward,” Myers emphasized in his detailed 68-page ruling.

Altering election rules post-facto, Myers argued, only generates disorder and could erode the public’s trust in federal courts, state agencies, and election processes.

While Democrats and voting rights advocates condemned the attempts as an assault on democracy, fearing it could guide future election reversals, the State Republican Party defended Griffin’s actions as efforts to ensure only legitimate votes are counted.