NC dismisses protests over more than 60,000 ballots in state Supreme Court race

The North Carolina State Board of Elections recently voted mostly along party lines to dismiss protests over more than 60,000 ballots in the race for a seat in the state's Supreme Court.

However, it's possible that this isn't the end of the race just yet. Republican Jefferson Griffin's campaign has indicated that legal action will follow the state board's dismissal of the protests.

Despite incumbent Democrat Justice Allison Riggs edging Griffin by just 734 votes, a statewide machine recount and subsequent partial hand-to-eye recount of the state's ballots did not find enough evidence that Griffin might have actually won.

According to North Carolina public radio station WUNC, "Because the recounts gave no indication that enough discrepancies existed to reverse the outcome, the state elections board ruled against ordering a full, statewide hand-to-eye recount. Separately, the board convened Wednesday to consider protests filed by Griffin under a variety of claims."

Griffin's main protest was his claim that thousands of ballots were cast by voters who had not properly registered.

According to the source, the specific "issue was that these voters registered using an outdated form that preceded the enactment of the Help America Vote Act, or HAVA, and did not clearly mandate the registrant provide either the last four digits of their Social Security Number or a driver's license number."

There were also questions about ballots coming from overseas. Griffin alleged that "some ballots should be discarded because they were cast by ineligible voters who live overseas. These protests claim children of overseas voters -- for example, missionaries and military personnel -- who had never resided in North Carolina, should not have been allowed to vote, though such voters are eligible under state law."

"We believe the winners of these elections should be determined by eligible voters and only eligible voter," Griffin's campaign said.

Election fraud was one of American voters' biggest concerns heading into the 2024 contest, so it's no surprise that the issue is rearing its head again in states with very close races.

However, there has been little to no evidence so far, according to board hearings, that there were "enough irregularities, alleged or otherwise, to reverse the outcome of the final vote count."

Still, Griffin's team is maintaining that this is not the end of the road.

Do you think there's any chance that his legal challenges will be successful?

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