Federal Court Tells NC to Pause on Certifying Election — But State Can Proceed With Ballot Curing

On Saturday, a federal court ordered the North Carolina State Board of Elections to proceed with the state court’s recent ruling in the ongoing legal challenge to November’s state Supreme Court election, which gives overseas and military voters 30 days to cure their ballots. 

But the state is barred from certifying the election until it receives further direction from the federal court.

It’s the latest update in the ongoing legal saga between state Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs and North Carolina appeals court judge Jefferson Griffin, who lost the November state Supreme Court ruling by 734 votes. Rather than concede, Griffin filed multiple lawsuits challenging the election results and arguing that some 65,000 ballots lawfully cast in the election should be disqualified. 

Per the state Supreme Court’s ruling last week, around 60,000 ballots with incomplete registrations cast in the election will be counted. But about 5,000 ballots cast by overseas and military voters who did not provide proper photo ID when they registered to vote will not be counted unless those voters cure their ballots in  30 days. The Court also greenlit the decision of a lower court to reject around 200 ballots cast by overseas voters who are registered to vote in North Carolina but never resided in the state.

The board will provide more detail to the federal court by Tuesday on its remedial efforts to help voters cure their ballots — including how many voters are impacted and in which counties. 

In light of the recent court rulings, Riggs held a rally in downtown Raleigh Monday morning. 

After last week’s Supreme Court ruling, Riggs issued a statement where she vowed to ensure overseas and military voters would not be disenfranchised. “I will not waiver (sic) in my fight to protect the fundamental freedoms for which our military service members and their families have sacrificed so much,” she said.