The North Carolina Supreme Court has dismissed, opens new tab a request by a Republican judge for a seat on its bench, declining to decide at this time whether over 60,000 ballots should be excluded from the final tally in his bid to unseat the leading Democratic candidate, Justice Allison Riggs.
The Republican-dominated court in a late Wednesday order declined to allow the state’s elections board to certify the election results, saying lower courts should first weigh in on the arguments by Judge Jefferson Griffin, a member of the North Carolina Court of Appeals who is trailing Riggs by 734 votes.
Three of the court’s five Republican justices in concurring opinions said Griffin’s arguments may be valid. But the court held that state law required him to pursue his case first in a trial court rather than going directly to the high court.
While the justices directed the trial court to hear his case “expeditiously,” the ruling could mean the victor of the last uncertified statewide election nationally may not be known for months if not longer.
“After all, it is more important to ensure the result is accurate than to hurriedly finalize the process as quickly as possible,” Chief Justice Paul Martin Newby wrote in a concurring opinion joined by two fellow Republican justices.
Riggs, who was recused from hearing the case, in a statement on Thursday said that while she agreed with the high court’s dismissal of Griffin’s case, she was “disappointed that the door has been opened to dragging this out for so long.”
“Voters elected me to continue serving on the North Carolina Supreme Court 79 days ago, and my election is the last uncertified race in the country,” she said.
Griffin declined to comment.
Riggs has been vying for a full eight-year term following her 2023 appointment to the court by Democratic Governor Roy Cooper to fill a vacancy on the seven-member tribunal, whose justices are elected.
The court has a 5-2 Republican majority. Riggs can continue to serve in her current position until the election dispute is resolved.
