Riggs-Griffin Election Vote Controversy

By Cash Michaels –

The only unresolved election contest in the country, five months after the November 2024 balloting, is here in North Carolina, and it’s aftermath has taken another significant turn.

On Monday, April 7, 2025, the NC Supreme Court stepped in to temporarily stop an order by a three-judge panel of the NC Court of Appeals that would have compelled over 60,000 North Carolina voters, many of whom are Black, to prove their eligibility in the race between incumbent state Supreme Justice Allison Riggs, a Democrat, and NC Appellate Court Judge Jefferson Griffin, a Republican.

The race between Riggs and Griffin was for Justice Riggs’ state Supreme Court seat. After a post-election statewide recount last November, Justice Riggs reportedly won her race by 734 votes out of 5.2 million cast over Judge Griffin. But refusing to accept defeat, Griffin contested Riggs’ victory by challenging over 60,000 votes already counted, alleging that those voters were not eligible to cast ballots because their registrations were invalid with incomplete Social Security or driver’s license numbers.

Both the NC Board of Elections and a Trump-appointed federal judge had already ruled that that information was no longer necessary for valid voter registrations, but that didn’t stop Judge Griffin from pressing his case legally to work his way up to courts that might rule more in his favor.

Judge Griffin is hoping that by eliminating those 60,000 plus votes, he will effectively win the race for the NC Supreme Court, taking Justice Riggs’ seat.

Riggs is one of only two Democrats on the seven-member high court. Her loss would make it difficult for Democrats to regain the majority anytime in the near future.

A three-judge panel of the NC Appellate Court ruled in Griffin’s favor on April 4 with a 2-1 decision, with the panel’s two Republican judges—colleagues of Judge Griffin—ruling in his favor.

That panel gave the over 60,000 voters in question 15 days to prove their eligibility or have their votes in the Riggs-Griffin contest thrown out, but the state Supreme Court stepped in Monday to temporarily block the order.

If Judge Griffin is successful in having those over 60,000 votes thrown out, experts say it would be unprecedented in US electoral history. The votes of over 60,000 otherwise qualified voters would be discounted through no fault of their own. By every metric, they followed the rules and qualified, and yet, their votes could be disqualified after they have been cast.

Griffin was able to successfully mount his legal challenges because he acted before Justice Riggs’ 734 recount vote victory could be certified by the state Board of Elections.

According to election experts, other races those 60,000+ voters participated in aren’t affected because they have been legally settled, certified, and the winners have taken office, so there is no going back regardless of the result of the Riggs-Griffin race, which has not been certified.

And there’s another unsettling fact.

According to a January analysis of the challenged 60,000+ votes by the Raleigh News and Observer, “…Black registered voters were twice as likely to have their votes challenged as white voters. Voters aged 18 to 25 were the largest age group among the challenged voters, accounting for about 23% of all protests, despite making up about 12% of the electorate. And while Democrats and unaffiliated voters made up the majority of the challenged voters, the analysis found, about 22% of the challenged ballots were cast by registered Republicans.”

In that same January Raleigh News and Observer story, the paper added, “ When comparing the challenged voters to the total registered voters of both racial groups, Black voters were twice as likely to have their ballots contested. That difference largely persists regardless of voters’ party affiliation. Many of the challenged voters—about 38%—did not have a race designated on their voter registration.”

“Chris Cooper, a political scientist at Western Carolina University, said this is likely part of a growing trend of voters not filling out optional demographic categories when they register to vote. Bob Hall, a longtime North Carolina government watchdog, noted that the state has been found to have enacted legislation that targeted Black voters in the past. He pointed to the 2016 ruling from the US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals which found that North Carolina’s old voter ID law targeted Black voters with “surgical precision.”

“Over and over again, in these cases where Republican operatives and candidates and legislators are taking action to get more power—they’re doing it at the expense of Black voters,” Hall said.”

The NC GOP charged that the Democrat-majority state Board of Elections is actually responsible for the controversy by counting votes that should have been thrown out.

“The integrity of the ballot box is the cornerstone of our democracy. Jefferson Griffin’s commitment to this process demonstrates his dedication to upholding the rule of law and protecting the voices of lawful voters,” said State Republican Party Chair Jason Simmons.

The Democratic Party has sued Judge Griffin and the state Republican Party, charging that they are trying to overturn a legally settled election.

On top of this latest development, the Associated Press recently reported that Judge Jefferson Griffin was photographed posing in a Confederate soldier’s uniform in front of a Confederate battle flag while a student at UNC – Chapel Hill years ago.

Judge Griffin acknowledged the old Kappa Alpha fraternity photo when it was recently published.

“I attended a college fraternity event that, in hindsight, was inappropriate and does not reflect the person I am today,” Griffin said in a statement. “At that time, like many college students, I did not fully grasp such participation’s broader historical and social implications. Since then, I have grown, learned, and dedicated myself to values that promote unity, inclusivity, and respect for all people.”

Kappa Alpha fraternity was reportedly well known many years ago to be a “lightning rod …for the racist and insensitive actions of some of its members,” published reports say.

At press time, the NC Supreme Court had ruled most votes must be counted—but allowed the challenge of overseas American soldiers’ votes to continue.