by Sarah Michels, Carolina Public Press –
Republican Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin skipped a step when appealing the State Board of Elections’ decision to dismiss his election protests, the N.C. Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, January 22, 2025.
But that mistake may not sound the death knell on his efforts to reverse the outcome of his election. In fact, several members of the state Supreme Court hinted in Wednesday’s order that if the case made it back up to them, they could rule in his favor.
Griffin, the apparent runner-up in his race against incumbent N.C. Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs, a Democrat, wanted to speed up the legal process to ensure that courts would hear the merits of his protests. Those protests challenge the validity of over 66,000 ballots cast in the 2024 general election before the outcome was certified.
After an election is certified, there is no going back. If his election had been certified on schedule, Griffin’s protests would have been moot and any court decisions would have applied only to future elections.
So, anticipating a more positive and quicker reception, Griffin appealed the State Board’s decision straight to the state Supreme Court instead of the lower Wake County Superior Court, as protocol directs.
While the state Supreme Court granted Griffin’s request to delay election certification in early January, this week they declined to hear the case on its merits, instead returning it to Wake County Superior Court.
On Thursday, Riggs expressed her agreement with the Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss the case, but disappointment that it is allowed to continue in a lower court.
“We have always known that Griffin’s baseless challenges should be heard and decided in federal court,” she said. “It’s telling that he is already trying to delay the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals’ review in light of the North Carolina Supreme Court’s order. Voters decide…
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