The N.C. Supreme Court issued an order on Tuesday morning prohibiting the North Carolina State Board of Elections from certifying Democratic Incumbent Justice Allison Riggs as the winner in the race for a seat on the N.C. Supreme Court.
Democratic Justice Anita Earls dissented, and Riggs excused herself from the case.
As of Nov. 6, the race remained too close to call, with Riggs having won 50.03 percent of the vote while Republican Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin having won 49.97 percent of the vote.
Griffin sued the N.C. State Board of Elections on Nov. 18 for failing to provide him with public election data in enough time to file protests against election results. NCSBE announced the following day that it would conduct a machine recount of the election per Griffin’s request, which confirmed that Riggs had won the race with a voting margin of 734.
On Dec. 3, the NCSBE announced it would conduct a second partial hand-to-eye recount — as requested by Griffin — which upheld the initial election results, with Griffin gaining 56 votes and Riggs gaining 70.
Griffin also filed a protest against the election, alleging that more than 60,000 votes should be discounted because voters did not include their driver’s license numbers or social security numbers alongside their voter registration.
The NCSBE had Griffin's case moved to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals because his allegations regarded federal law relating to voter registration. On Jan. 5, Griffin filed a motion to return the case to state court, claiming that federal court did not have proper jurisdiction over the case.
Due to inaction by the federal court, the N.C. Supreme Court will retain jurisdiction over the case moving forward.
The N.C. Board of Elections has until Jan. 21 to file a response, and Griffin has until Jan. 24 to file a reply brief.
