GOP lawsuit seeks to throw out 60,000 votes in NC to unseat Democratic Justice

Lynn Bonner, NC Newsline
10 January
Democratic incumbent Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs and her Republican challenger, Judge Jefferson Griffin. (Courtesy photos)

While all eyes were on Judge Jefferson Griffin’s attempt to discard ballots in a case that’s now with the state Supreme Court, there’s a parallel action, with a hearing today, in Wake Superior Court in a lawsuit brought by the Republican Party.

Griffin, a Republican Appeals Court judge, is seeking to throw out more than 60,000 votes cast in the fall election on the belief that doing so will allow him to unseat incumbent Democratic Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs. Riggs leads by 734 votes.

While Griffin wants votes subtracted only in his race, a separate Republican lawsuit seeks to potentially throw out tens of thousands of votes cast in all statewide races. At this point, all statewide election results, except the result in Supreme Court race, have been certified and the winners have taken office. The Democratic National Committee will go to court to formally oppose the GOP suit.

Most of the ballots Griffin is seeking to discount were cast by people he claims did not provide driver’s license numbers or a partial Social Security number on their registration applications. He argues those voters are not legally registered, though many have been registered and voting for decades.

State law does not require voters to have a driver’s license number or Social Security number.

In a separate lawsuit, the Republican National Committee, the state Republican Party, the Wake County Republican Party and two voters want a Superior Court judge to require the state Board of Elections to go through the more than 60,000 ballots to determine whether the voters were validly registered and deduct the votes of those who weren’t, or have elections officials go back to voters to collect the government digits under a deadline. Republicans propose that voters whose information is not collected would have their votes discarded for all elections for state offices.

The lawsuit blames the state Board of Elections for violating state law by not collecting the information, and asks for a preliminary injunction. The state Supreme Court ordered a temporary stay in Griffin’s case earlier this week.

The Democratic National Committee will ask to intervene in the GOP lawsuit to oppose it.

The election is over and all the elections are certified or are already being litigated over the exact same claims, the DNC brief says.

“Plaintiffs’ lawsuit runs counter to the generalities they purport to espouse. They claim they are combating “voter fraud,” yet they attempt to disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters who have lawfully registered and cast their ballots for decades,” the brief says.

“They claim they are promoting “election integrity,” but their lawsuit undermines voters’ ability to trust that their voter registrations are valid and their votes will be counted. The motion should be denied and the status quo maintained pending trial on the merits.”

At Griffin’s request, the state Supreme Court this week blocked certification of Riggs’ election while it considers his case. Republicans hold a 5-2 majority on the court. Four Republican justices decided to hear the case, while one Republican and one Democrat dissented. Riggs has recused herself.

The state Board of Elections dismissed Griffin’s protests last month.

Last year, the state GOP and the Republican National Committee sued to have 225,000 voters purged from the registration rolls over the issue of partial voter registration applications. A federal judge partially dismissed the suit.

Some voters have said they put partial Social Security numbers on their applications, but through data mismatches, the numbers were not attached to their voter files.

NC Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. NC Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Rob Schofield for questions: info@ncnewsline.com.

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