Justice Riggs Defends Voters in NC Court of Appeals Against Griffin’s Election Challenge
JUSTICE RIGGS FILES MOTIONS TO PROTECT VOTERS, PROVIDE RESOLUTION OF ELECTION WON MORE THAN 3 MONTHS AGO
Raleigh, N.C. – In a filing with the North Carolina Court of Appeals, Justice Allison Riggs continued to stand up for voters. Her counsel filed her brief arguing that state law protects the more than 65,000 voters that Jefferson Griffin is seeking to disenfranchise, including active duty military serving overseas.
Today’s filing is in response to Judge Griffin’s brief submitted on Monday, where his team not only continued their efforts to disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters but also advanced arguments seeking to preclude this matter’s ultimate resolution in federal court.
Important highlights from Justice Riggs’ filing today:
“And if Judge Griffin succeeds, the implications are staggering. Rather than suing before an election to challenge rules they do not believe are valid, candidates will have an incentive to say nothing and wait to see if they win. Then if they lose, they will drag out elections through litigation for months, seeking to throw out votes until they win. Never again will North Carolina voters walk out of the voting booths knowing their votes will count, and the court system will be flooded with lawsuits after every election.”
“Accordingly, candidates such as Judge Griffin who seek to bring grievances based on election laws have a duty to bring their complaints forward for pre-election adjudication when possible. They cannot gamble upon receiving a favorable decision of the electorate and then, upon losing, seek to undo the ballot results in a court action.”
“While there may be policy arguments for extending photo ID to military and overseas voters, the General Assembly has not yet decided to impose such a requirement. That legislative choice is not only consistent with the law for UOCAVA voters in other states across the country, but also with the historical recognition in federal and state law that it is simply harder for overseas citizens to exercise their right to vote—from uniformed military on the battlefield or in submarines, to missionaries and nonprofit workers in remote locations. Indeed, the Department of Defense disagrees with Judge Griffin’s argument that it “makes no sense” to permit military and overseas voters to access the ballot without a photo ID and has explained why these voters should be treated differently.”
“Judge Griffin claims that every voter without a driver’s license or social security number in a state database should not have been permitted to vote in any race in the 2024 General Election and should have their vote thrown out—but only as to his race. As Judge Griffin knows, he has been unable to identify a single ineligible voter in this group.”
Still pending before the North Carolina Court of Appeals are Justice Riggs’ motion for the Court of Appeals to consider the case en banc (the full court) in the first instance and her motion to recuse Judge Murry, whose campaign contributed to Judge Griffin’s legal defense fund. Judge Griffin has opposed both of those motions.
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