4th Circuit To Weigh Whether NC Supreme Court Election Challenge Should Proceed in State or Federal Court
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hold oral argument Monday to weigh whether GOP North Carolina Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin’s legal bid contesting his 2024 election loss to incumbent Democratic Justice Allison Riggs should proceed in state or federal court.
Although Monday’s argument won’t center on the merits of Griffin’s challenge to over 60,000 ballots, it will have bearing on the venue in which the dispute plays out — a factor that could prove quite consequential for the ultimate outcome of the ongoing legal battle.
The certification of Riggs’ electoral victory — which was confirmed by two recounts — currently remains on hold as a result of an order from the majority-Republican state Supreme Court halting final certification of the race. Voting rights advocates have decried the court’s willingness to hold up a resolution of the election and consider Griffin’s attempts to disenfranchise large scores of voters.
Back in December, Griffin filed two separate sets of legal challenges — one set in Wake County Superior Court, the other directly in the North Carolina Supreme Court — seeking to overturn his 734-vote loss to Riggs. The nearly identical legal actions both raise claims against three distinct categories of ballots to which Griffin had unsuccessfully mounted protests before the state board of elections.
The three buckets of ballots challenged by Griffin include those cast by overseas voters who did not submit a copy of their photo IDs, voters who never previously resided in North Carolina and individuals whose voter registrations were allegedly incomplete.
Early on in the litigation, the North Carolina State Board of Elections and Riggs removed both sets of cases to federal court, arguing that Griffin’s post hoc request to change the state’s voting rules after votes have already been cast and counted would implicate North Carolinians’ rights under federal law and the U.S. Constitution.
However, Trump-appointed federal Judge Richard Myers sent both actions back down to North Carolina state courts, prompting appeals by the board and Riggs to the 4th Circuit. Monday’s 4th Circuit oral argument specifically concerns Griffin’s case filed directly in the North Carolina Supreme Court.
But further complicating the matter is a recent order from the justices dismissing Griffin’s petition seeking review of his case by the North Carolina Supreme Court. In that Jan. 22 order, the justices indicated that Griffin’s ballot challenges should first proceed in Wake County Superior Court prior to being reviewed by the state Supreme Court on appeal.
In response to the court’s move, Griffin suggested the 4th Circuit should postpone Monday’s arguments, but Riggs and the board urged the court to proceed as it originally planned.
At Monday’s argument, Griffin’s attorneys will take the position that the district court judge was correct to remand the case back to state court. Given the partisan makeup of the North Carolina Supreme Court bench — where Republicans enjoy a 5-2 majority — it comes as no surprise that Griffin hopes the 4th Circuit will affirm Myers’ remand ruling.
On the flip side, both the state board of elections and Riggs will maintain that federal courts ought to retain jurisdiction over the matter. In a legal brief, Riggs attorneys’ said that the 4th Circuit should reverse the district court’s ruling, hold that Griffin is unlikely to succeed on the merits of his case and instruct the district court to deny Griffin’s request to block certification of the race.
Griffin himself has previously admitted that once the race is certified, all of his outstanding election challenges will become moot.
In an amicus brief supporting Riggs and the board, the North Carolina Democratic Party condemned Griffin’s challenge, writing that “federal law prohibits the mass disenfranchisement that Judge Griffin seeks in order to undo the election for associate justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.”
A live stream of Monday’s oral argument can be accessed here starting at 3:30 p.m. EST. The composition of the three-judge panel presiding over the appeal will be released the morning of the argument.