The legal battle over a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court continues as the court has issued a temporary hold on the certification of election results. Democratic Justice Jennifer (Allison) Riggs' narrow victory is being challenged by Republican Judge Jefferson Griffin, who lost to Riggs by just 734 votes out of over 5 million cast in the general election, as WBTV reported. The state Supreme Court, which has a conservative 5-2 Republican majority, granted Griffin's motion on Tuesday, leaving the outcome of this high court seat in limbo.
Despite machine and hand-eye recounts confirming Riggs' victory, Griffin continues to challenge the results. He alleges that approximately 60,000 ballots were invalid, primarily citing issues with voter identification, such as missing driver’s license numbers or Social Security digits on registration records, according to ProPublica. However, Griffin's claims have been rejected by both the North Carolina State Board of Elections and a federal judge due to a lack of sufficient evidence.
Justice Riggs, a former voting rights attorney, has recused herself from deliberations on the challenge to the election results that directly involve her. The stay issued by the state Supreme Court has delayed the State Board of Elections from certifying the results as originally scheduled. This decision follows a ruling by a federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump, who remanded the challenge to the state Supreme Court. In response, the state election board has called for the case to be returned to federal court, as noted in The Guardian report.
