{"id":2387588,"date":"2025-01-07T18:05:02","date_gmt":"2025-01-07T23:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nc-high-court-blocks-elections-board-from-certifying-dem-as-winner\/"},"modified":"2025-01-07T18:06:06","modified_gmt":"2025-01-07T23:06:06","slug":"nc-high-court-blocks-elections-board-from-certifying-dem-as-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nc-high-court-blocks-elections-board-from-certifying-dem-as-winner\/","title":{"rendered":"NC High Court Blocks Elections Board From Certifying Dem As Winner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnc-high-court-blocks-elections-board-from-certifying-dem-as-winner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2387588&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The North Carolina Supreme Court \u200chas temporarily blocked the state Board of\u200d Elections (NCSBE) from certifying the election of democratic\u200d Justice Allison Riggs, as it considers an election challenge from Republican Judge Jefferson Griffin. The decision, \u2062made with a 5-1 vote (Justice Riggs\u2062 recused herself), responds to Griffin&#8217;s request\u200b to halt certification, \u200cclaiming\u200b that the board is using legal tactics to streamline certification and preemptively render his protests moot. Griffin \u200dled by approximately 10,000 votes on election night, but the post-election counting of \u2064absentee and provisional ballots resulted\u200b in Riggs gaining a narrow\u2063 victory by \u200b734 votes. <\/p>\n<p>Griffin has \u200dfiled challenges against around 60,000 questioned ballots, raising concerns about the legitimacy\u200c of votes \u200ccast\u200c by improperly registered\u200c individuals, \u200cincluding those lacking required identification and even \u200cthose who have never \u2063resided\u2062 in North Carolina. The state had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nypd-orders-all-cops-to-mask-up-regardless-of-vaccination-status\/\" title=\"NYPD Orders All Cops to Mask up Regardless of Vaccination Status\">previously faced scrutiny<\/a> over its handling of voter registration and\u2064 voting procedures, with republican efforts to reform processes hindered by the actions of the NCSBE. A ruling in favor \u200dof \u200dGriffin might lead to notable reforms in \u200belection integrity practices in North Carolina \u200cand \u200cperhaps set a precedent for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-keeps-block-on-florida-drag-law-for-now\/\" title=\"Supreme Court keeps block on Florida drag law for now\">similar issues nationwide<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-fp7CXG_aG8\">The Federalist Society \/ Youtube<\/a> \/ Cropped       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/07\/north-carolina-supreme-court-blocks-elections-board-from-certifying-democrat-as-winner-for-high-court-seat\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=North%20Carolina%20Supreme%20Court%20Blocks%20Elections%20Board%20From%20Certifying%20Democrat%20As%20Winner%20For%20High%20Court%20Seat&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/07\/north-carolina-supreme-court-blocks-elections-board-from-certifying-democrat-as-winner-for-high-court-seat\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=North%20Carolina%20Supreme%20Court%20Blocks%20Elections%20Board%20From%20Certifying%20Democrat%20As%20Winner%20For%20High%20Court%20Seat&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/07\/north-carolina-supreme-court-blocks-elections-board-from-certifying-democrat-as-winner-for-high-court-seat\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/07\/north-carolina-supreme-court-blocks-elections-board-from-certifying-democrat-as-winner-for-high-court-seat\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=North%20Carolina%20Supreme%20Court%20Blocks%20Elections%20Board%20From%20Certifying%20Democrat%20As%20Winner%20For%20High%20Court%20Seat&amp;body=Ultimately,%20Griffin%20requested%20the%20state%20Supreme%20Court%20prohibit%20the%20NSCBE%20from%20counting%20the%20ballots%20he%20has%20challenged%20as%20\" unlawful. target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>The North Carolina Supreme Court blocked the state Board of Elections (NCSBE) from certifying the election of Democrat incumbent Justice Allison Riggs to retain her seat on the high court, as the court weighs an election challenge from Republican candidate Judge Jefferson Griffin.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carolinajournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/griffin-protest-supreme-010725.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">temporary stay<\/a>, issued Tuesday after a 5-1 vote (Riggs was recused), granted a Monday <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncappellatecourts.org\/show-file.php?document_id=366772\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">request<\/a> from Griffin to stop the Democrat-run NCSBE from certifying the election, which was scheduled for Friday.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-801765718\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Griffin was leading on election night by about 10,000 votes, but absentee and provisional ballots began trickling in after Election Day, as The Federalist <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/11\/05\/watch-for-democrats-trying-to-tilt-north-carolina-blue-with-overseas-ballots-after-election-day\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">anticipated<\/a>, eventually giving Riggs her razor-thin, 734-vote lead.<\/p>\n<p>The Republican has filed protests on several different grounds, amounting to about 60,000 ballot challenges statewide. While the NCSBE, along party lines, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/12\/north-carolina-election-board-counts-votes-of-never-resided-improperly-registered-voters-in-supreme-court-election\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">summarily rejected<\/a> the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/23\/north-carolina-elections-board-allows-potentially-illegal-votes-because-they-probably-didnt-affect-outcomes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">protests<\/a>, the state&rsquo;s Republican-led high court believes it needs more time to consider them.<\/p>\n<p>Griffin argues that the NCSBE is attempting to use legal tactics to delay Griffin so that it can certify the election, thereby leaving the issue without redress.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Without an immediate stay of certification by the Board&mdash;one issued as early as possible&mdash;the Board is likely to find new obstacles that procedurally bar any court from reaching the merits of Judge Griffin&rsquo;s election protests,&rdquo; the request states. &ldquo;While Judge Griffin continues to clear the procedural obstacles thrown up by the Board, the Board will press toward certifying the election. An immediate stay is necessary to protect this Court&rsquo;s certain jurisdiction to consider the petition for a writ of prohibition. Once the certificate of election issues, election protests, like those involved here, become moot.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, Griffin requested the state Supreme Court prohibit the NSCBE from counting the ballots he has challenged as &ldquo;unlawful.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>As The Federalist <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/12\/north-carolina-election-board-counts-votes-of-never-resided-improperly-registered-voters-in-supreme-court-election\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, Griffin&rsquo;s protests to the 60,000 ballots cover a wide range of election integrity issues in North Carolina, including that the state allows improperly registered voters to cast ballots. <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/05\/07\/data-more-than-200000-people-on-north-carolina-voter-rolls-missing-id-numbers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hundreds of thousands<\/a> of voters have registered in the state without providing identification like a driver&rsquo;s license or the last four digits of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">social security number<\/a>, which is required by federal law. Despite Republican <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/12\/north-carolina-election-board-counts-votes-of-never-resided-improperly-registered-voters-in-supreme-court-election\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">attempts<\/a> to pressure the NCSBE to fix its mistake and procure the information, the board has refused, and a court decided <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/regulation\/court-battles\/4959357-appeals-court-gop-challenge-north-carolina-voter-rolls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">against<\/a> Republicans in a lawsuit regarding the questionable voters in October. <\/p>\n<p>North Carolina also allows <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/11\/13\/north-carolina-counts-overseas-ballots-that-come-in-well-after-election-day-and-no-one-can-challenge-them\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">overseas voters<\/a> to bypass the state&rsquo;s voter identification law and grants persons who have never resided in the state or country the right to vote in local elections. Allowing &ldquo;never resided&rdquo; voters to cast ballots in local elections appears to be patently unconstitutional, as the state&rsquo;s founding document <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/10\/10\/lawsuits-letting-people-who-never-lived-there-vote-in-north-carolina-michigan-violates-state-constitutions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stipulates<\/a> that only individuals who reside in the state may cast ballots. Currently, the state allows &ldquo;never resided&rdquo; individuals to use the last known address of their parents to register through, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/10\/04\/in-most-states-never-resided-u-s-citizens-abroad-can-vote-in-elections-using-your-address\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">as numerous states do<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The fact that their parents were residents or are residents of North Carolina doesn&rsquo;t establish residency of the individual, of the child,&rdquo; Craig Schauer, counsel for Griffin, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/12\/north-carolina-election-board-counts-votes-of-never-resided-improperly-registered-voters-in-supreme-court-election\/\">argued<\/a> before the NCSBE last month. &ldquo;In other words, you can&rsquo;t inherit your parents&rsquo; residency. Residency is &hellip; specific to an individual.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>A decision in favor of Griffin&rsquo;s protests could signal drastic election integrity reform in the state, and be a bellwether nationwide as most states have similar <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/uocava\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">overseas voter issues<\/a> &mdash; and many have <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/eric\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">severely mismanaged voter rolls<\/a><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Tuesday order set an &ldquo;expedited briefing schedule,&rdquo; looking to the importance of certifying an election as soon as possible after it takes place. It requires Griffin to submit a brief by Jan. 14, and Riggs to respond by Jan. 21, with a final reply brief requested by Jan. 24.<\/p>\n<p>The stay at the state level comes after a federal district court on Monday remanded the case to the state Supreme Court. The NCSBE is currently pursuing an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carolinajournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/griffin-protest-52-010625.pdf\">appeal<\/a> at the Fourth U.S. Circuit level, which has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carolinajournal.com\/nc-supreme-court-grants-stay-blocks-certification-of-election-between-griffin-riggs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">requested<\/a> receipt of an opening brief on Feb. 18 and a response brief by March 20.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Breccan F. Thies is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. He previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Breccan F. Thies<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreccanFThies\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@BreccanFThies<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/breccan-thies\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/2024-election\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">2024 election<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/allison-riggs\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Allison Riggs<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/election-integrity\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">election integrity<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/jefferson-griffin\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Jefferson Griffin<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/ncsbe\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">ncsbe<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/north-carolina\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">North Carolina<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/north-carolina-board-of-elections\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">North Carolina Board of Elections<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/overseas-voters\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">overseas voters<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/uocava\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">UOCAVA<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/uocava-voters\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">UOCAVA voters<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The North Carolina Supreme Court halted the state Board of Elections from certifying Democrat Justice Allison Riggs&#8217; election amid a challenge from Republican Judge Jefferson Griffin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":2387591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-07-145445.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[25952,4912,35463,32546,48094],"class_list":["post-2387588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-certification","tag-democrat","tag-elections-board","tag-legal-decision","tag-nc-high-court"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-07-145445.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2387588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2387588"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2387588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2387593,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2387588\/revisions\/2387593"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2387591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2387588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2387588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2387588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}