Griffin asks Appeals Court to order decision on election protests by Tuesday

Republican North Carolina Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin is turning to North Carolina’s second-highest court for an order that would force state election officials to make a final decision about Griffin’s election protests Tuesday.

The State Board of Elections had planned to hear oral arguments about the protests the following day, according to a document Griffin filed Friday with the state Court of Appeals.

“The foot-dragging is inexcusable,” Griffin’s lawyers wrote.

Griffin seeks a writ of mandamus from the Appeals Court. He sits as a judge on that 15-member court, which typically addresses petitions and decides cases in three-member panels.

He trails appointed incumbent Democrat Allison Riggs by 734 votes in one of the few unresolved races from North Carolina’s Nov. 5 election. Elections officials across the state have been conducting in recent days a hand recount of a random sample of precinct and early-voting site vote totals in the race.

Meanwhile, Griffin and state Republican Party officials are pursuing a series of challenges involving 60,000 ballots cast statewide.

“Specifically, Judge Griffin seeks a writ of mandamus compelling the State Board of Elections to issue a final decision on his three categories of election protests pending before that Board by 5:00pm on 10 December 2024,” Griffin’s lawyers wrote. “The immediate issuance of a final decision is necessary so that any aggrieved party can seek judicial review of that decision and the winner for the open seat on our Supreme Court can be certified.”

“Public trust in our electoral processes depends on both fair and efficient procedures to determine the outcome of our elections,” Griffin’s lawyers wrote. “By failing to give a timely decision, the State Board continues to undermine the public interest, just as it has done in its mismanagement of the 2024 general election.”

Griffin filed election protests on Nov. 19 in all 100 North Carolina counties. He filed six categories of protest. His request to the Appeals Court addresses three. First, Griffin targets “incomplete voter registrations,” meaning people who registered to vote without providing a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number.

“In the Supreme Court contest, over 60,000 people cast ballots, even though they had never provided the statutorily required information to become lawful voter registrants. Under state law, unless someone is lawfully registered to vote, he cannot vote,” Griffin’s lawyers wrote.

Second, Griffin targets “never residents.” “Our state constitution limits voters for state offices to people who actually reside in North Carolina,” the candidate’s lawyers wrote. “Nonetheless, the State Board allowed approximately 289 people to vote in the protested election who have never resided in North Carolina or anywhere else in the United States. These voters self-identified themselves as such, stating on a form ‘I am a U.S. citizen living outside the country, and I have never lived in the United States.’ Counting these ballots is unlawful.”

Third, Griffin lists “no photo ID” as a protest category. “It’s well known that photo identification is required for all voters, both those voting absentee ballots and those voting in person,” his lawyers wrote. “Yet the State Board decided not to require photo identification for absentee ballots cast by voters who live overseas. State law, however, doesn’t exempt overseas voters from the photo-identification requirement. Thousands of such ballots were unlawfully cast in the election.”

Griffin sought a similar order from Wake County Superior Court before turning to the Appeals Court.

“A disputed election to our state’s highest court is itself an exceptional circumstance of immense public interest,” Griffin’s lawyers wrote. “A speedy determination of that contest is not just important to the candidates, but is critical to the public’s trust in the electoral process. Everyone has a strong interest in the fair and speedy determination of election results.”

“This Court need not let the public trust in the electoral process crumble further,” the court filing argued.

The post Griffin asks Appeals Court to order decision on election protests by Tuesday first appeared on Carolina Journal.