A version of this news analysis originally appeared in the Inside Politics newsletter, out Fridays. Sign up here to get it first to your inbox.
North Carolina’s dispute — one could say crisis — over last month’s state Supreme Court election escalated last week, setting up a showdown that could change the race’s outcome.
Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin on Wednesday bypassed Wake County Superior Court and asked the Republican-controlled state Supreme Court to rule on Monday whether the state Board of Elections can count 60,000 ballots that Griffin has said should be discarded.
He wants fellow Republican justices to lift him to victory. Democrats say he wants them to steal the election for him.
He’s trailing Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs by 734 votes — after a statewide machine recount of all ballots and a hand count of a small sample.
The GOP is contesting the 60,000 ballots for three reasons: Some were cast by people whose voter registrations on file don’t have driver’s license numbers or partial Social Security numbers; some were cast by military and overseas voters who didn’t provide a photo ID; and some were cast by overseas residents who haven’t lived in North Carolina, but whose parents have residency here.
The largest batch is people whose registrations are incomplete. Many have voted for years. They include Riggs’ parents.
And almost all of those voters showed photo ID when they cast their ballots — most likely a driver’s license, which is the data that’s missing from their registrations.
Conservative Andrew Dunn writes the Longleaf Politics newsletter. A former Charlotte Observer reporter and later a staffer on Republican Dan Forest’s gubernatorial campaign in 2020, he said Griffin’s challenge goes too far.
To be blunt: This appeal is political dynamite. If Griffin wins, it would set off a national firestorm with effects that linger for years. If he loses, it still leaves the party fractured and weakened.
Either way, it’s a disaster.
I hate writing this. I really do. I have no desire to poison relationships with people at the state Republican Party, whom I like and respect. But this isn’t just some minor procedural squabble — it’s a huge risk that could threaten the future of conservatism in North Carolina.
I’m not sure who’s leading the push here — but it needs to end now.
Meanwhile, the North Carolina State Board of Elections submitted paperwork Thursday to move state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin’s latest legal complaint to federal court.
U.S. Chief District Judge Richard Myers already oversees a lawsuit the state Democratic Party filed on Dec. 6.
It’s possible Myers could end Griffin’s quest before the conservative state Supreme Court could intervene.
