Most counties have seen vote totals change in NC Supreme Court recount

With 92 of North Carolina’s 100 counties completing state-ordered recounts in the state Supreme Court election, appointed incumbent Democrat Allison Riggs still leads Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin by more than 630 votes. The winner will serve an eight-year term on the state’s highest court.

So far, just 30 counties have reported the same vote totals in the recount as they recorded during the initial canvass of votes after the Nov. 5 election.

When the recount started, Riggs led Griffin by 722 votes out of more than 5.5 million ballots cast in the race. Riggs has lost 73 votes during the recount, while Griffin has gained 18 votes. Together, that means a net gain of 91 votes for Griffin.

Riggs has seen her vote totals increase in 22 counties and decrease in 25. Griffin has gained votes in 33 counties and lost votes in 25.

Both candidates picked up an additional 14 votes in Montgomery County. That was the largest gain for either candidate. Griffin also gained 12 votes in Cabarrus County.

Riggs lost 21 votes in Lenoir County, along with 16 in Forsyth and 14 in Durham. Griffin lost 13 votes in Durham County, 11 votes in both Alamance and Halifax counties, and 10 votes in Onslow.

State officials initially set Wednesday as the deadline for the recount to be completed. Media outlets have reported that the state elections board has extended the recount into next week. Vote totals from the recount will be the official vote totals for the election.

As the recount has progressed, Griffin also has filed challenges against 60,000 votes cast in the election. State and local officials continue to address those challenges.

Final election-night totals showed Griffin leading by more than 10,000 votes. As counties counted provisional ballots and other votes not tallied on Nov. 5, Riggs overtook Griffin.

If Riggs wins, the state’s highest court will maintain its current roster of judges and its current 5-2 Republican majority. A Griffin win would shift the majority to a 6-1 Republican advantage. If Griffin loses, he still has four years remaining on his term as a member of the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

Griffin and two Republican state Senate candidates also filed paperwork this week asking the state Supreme Court to accept an amicus, or friend-of-the-court, brief in the case Kivett v. North Carolina State Board of Elections.

That case challenges state rules dealing with overseas voters.

“Amici curiae have a very direct interest in the outcome of the petition pending before the Court,” the three Republican candidates’ lawyers wrote Tuesday. “Amici are candidates in the 2024 general election. The winners of their contests have not been certified because of irregularities in those elections. Amici have filed election protests for each of their races, which remain pending before the state and county election boards.”

“One of the key bases for the election protests is unlawful voting by people who have never lived in North Carolina,” the court filing continued. “That is also the key legal question before this Court. How this Court resolves that question may directly impact who wins each of these contests, given their slim margins.”

The post Most counties have seen vote totals change in NC Supreme Court recount first appeared on Carolina Journal.