UPDATE: North Carolina’s top court clears path for ballots to not be counted in contested state Supreme Court race
Educate. Advocate. Mitigate. Activate!
Last Friday, a three-judge circuit court panel in North Carolina ruled that the 65,000 ballots cast in the 2024 State Supreme Court race election would not be counted unless voters could fix their registration in 15 days.
According to multiple reports on election day, Republican Jefferson Griffin led Democrat Allison Riggs by 10,000 votes, with more than 5.5 million votes cast. Then, after counting for several more weeks and much “ballot curing” (something WA State Voters are all too familiar with, as in the 2024 Commissioner of Public Lands race), Riggs led Griffin by 625 votes. Griffin then requested the first recount. A machine recount ensued, as well as a partial hand recount, changing the margin to 734 votes!
Griffin argued that three categories of votes should be thrown out:
Voters who were registered to vote with incomplete voter registration data
Military and overseas voters who did not meet the state’s voter ID requirements; and
Overseas voters who have never lived in the state or expressed an intent to do so - a small category of voters who are generally family members of expats or service members.
The April 4 ruling ordered that more than 65,000 voters, whose eligibility was challenged by Republican Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin and his lawyers, provide state elections officials with the necessary proof of identity to verify their votes, IN THE NEXT 15 DAYS!
Riggs fought the ruling and filed an appeal on April 6 to the state Supreme Court. On Monday, April 7, the court temporarily paused and blocked the lower court’s ruling.
Then, today, in a 4 -2 NC Supreme Court decision, Griffin scored a partial victory in his effort to throw out thousands of ballots from the 2024 election, an outcome that could help him secure a seat on the state's highest court.
The court ruled to count “some ballots” and “reject others.” It ruled that most of those ballots—coming from roughly 60,000 voters with incomplete registration data, which could include missing driver’s license numbers or Social Security numbers—should still be counted for this election, placing the blame on the state board of elections.
The court said that “mistakes made by negligent election officials in registering citizens who are otherwise eligible to vote” cannot be the sole basis for depriving a citizen of his or her right to vote, and that those 60,000 votes must be counted.
But the court’s order puts the latter two categories of voters at risk. The court ruled that about 5,000 military and overseas voters who DID NOT meet the ID requirement must prove their identity WITHIN 30 DAYS (instead of 15 days) —known as a “cure process”—or their votes could be invalidated.
It also affirmed the lower court order that about 200 “never residents” ballots cast by overseas voters registered to vote in North Carolina but who NEVER RESIDED IN THE STATE be DISQUALIFIED—per the NC State Constitution.
"The decision today brings this election one step closer to a conclusion, ensuring every legal vote will be counted," Matt Mercer, a spokesman for the North Carolina Republican Party, said in a statement.
AS A REMINDER: WA State Democrats (aka “The Anyone From Anywhere Can Vote Party”) sponsored bill SSB 5017: AN ACT Relating to adopting national standards for uniformed and overseas civilian voting, including conforming amendments to existing statute - Creates very troubling new state rules pertaining to the Uniform Military and Overseas Voter Act (UMOVA) and the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA).
As currently written, the bill would allow people born outside the U.S. who have NEVER EVEN SET FOOT OR LIVED in WA State (aka “Permanent Overseas Voters”) to vote in local elections - e.g., County Council, Commissioners, City Council, Mayors, School Boards, levies, being able to raise taxes on the locals, etc.
PLEASE REMEMBER, the WA State Constitution Art 6 Sec 1 QUALIFICATIONS OF ELECTORS - SAYS All persons of the age of twenty-one years or over, possessing the following qualifications, shall be entitled to vote at all elections: They shall be citizens of the United States; they shall have lived in the state one year, and in the county ninety days, and in the city, town, ward or precinct thirty days immediately preceding the election at which they offer to vote…
WHAT A CONCEPT TO FOLLOW THE STATE CONSTITUTION…
Of course, today’s decision by the NC Republican-controlled State Supreme Court drew angry, fiery rebukes from Democrats who may still seek more litigation in federal court. In the meantime, the State Board of Elections has posted a FAQ for challenged voters online.
This case will be fascinating to track! Besides flipping a key Judicial seat, what a great opportunity for the DOGE team to run the ‘Voter Registrations’ in question, against their ineligible Social Security numbers they have been identifying with…
Bill Bruch
Bill Bruch is the WA State GOP Election Integrity Chairman (5th year), WAGOP Executive Board Member (5th Year), Skagit County GOP Chairman (9th year), Citizen Journalist, Blogger, Business Owner, “2021 Citizen Activist of the Year” award by the Olympic Conference, 2020 WA State House Representative Candidate, Former Council Member, and WA State 2016 and 2024 RNC National Convention Delegate.