RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs vowed at a rally of supporters Monday to “fight as long as it takes” as she awaits a final decision in her race against Republican Jefferson Griffin for a seat on North Carolina's high court.
The rally by more than 100 protesters in Raleigh was an outlet for many attendees to voice frustration after a Friday state Supreme Court decision that asked some voters to provide additional information so their ballots could be counted. Riggs insisted during her speech that the decision disenfranchised thousands of voters, primarily military members and citizens overseas.
“I promise you, I will not let one single voter slip through the cracks,” Riggs said, her words met by cheers.
Riggs and Griffin's race is the only one from the 2024 election still undecided. She leads Griffin by 734 votes from more than 5.5 million ballots cast, of which more than 65,000 Griffin contested in court as being wrongly allowed in the tally. The Supreme Court decision leaves perhaps several thousand of those challenged ballots in play.
What is the state of the North Carolina Supreme Court race?
A majority on the state Supreme Court let stand Friday portions of a lower appeals court decision that ballots within two categories that Griffin, a current Court of Appeals judge, challenged in November should have been disallowed.
Those justices, all registered Republicans, agreed that some of those voters — perhaps thousands — be given time to provide additional information so their choices could remain in the count. But most of the challenged ballots must stay in the vote count, the court decided.
The categories of disallowed ballots include those cast by overseas voters who have never lived in the U.S. but whose parents were deemed North Carolina residents; and by military or overseas voters and family members who did not provide copies of photo identification or an ID exemption form with their ballots.
The justices said voters who didn't provide an ID or form can still have their ballots count should they provide the missing information within a 30-day period that hadn’t yet started as of Monday. Under Friday's decision, the ballots cast by people determined not in compliance with residency laws can't count, however.
Exactly how many ballots could still be affected — and whether it could flip the result in Griffin's favor — remains unclear. Some of Griffin's post-election protests affected potentially thousands of voters in Democratic-leaning counties, meaning the removal of those ballots from the final tally could benefit him.
Riggs, who recused herself from the Supreme Court deliberations, had already signaled that she would go to federal court to challenge state judicial rulings that went against her, citing federal elections and voting rights laws. She did just that late Friday.
Other groups filed federal actions early Monday seeking to prevent the vote-curing process from taking place or throwing out ballots. They include the state Democratic Party, the League of Women Voters of North Carolina and some of the voters who were told they didn't have to provide IDs.
The race's lengthy pathway through the court system has angered voters like Tracy Casorso, who said she hadn't anticipated it taking more than five months to reach a final outcome. She held a sign that said “Stop the Steal” — a common sentiment etched on various posters that rallygoers held up as Riggs spoke.
“These are pretty frightening times, and this is unconscionable and flies in the face of our democracy,” Casorso said.
What both candidates are saying about the race
Riggs told rallygoers that her campaign plans to reach out to all voters affected by the recent decision. She also warned attendees that the outcome of her race could be used as a “test case to overturn elections” across the country.
“They will use this as a playbook over and over again,” she said.
Citing the state's judicial conduct code, Griffin campaign spokesperson Paul Shumaker said Griffin couldn't comment on the case before the court, adding that it was “disturbing” that Riggs was holding rallies on the issue.
“The Court ruling on Friday is consistent with our request, and clearly, the matter warrants a thorough review, which the Courts have set forth," Shumaker said in a statement.
Makiya Seminera And Gary D. Robertson, The Associated Press
