Carolina Journal
Staff Reports
Republican state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin has filed paperwork to intervene in the North Carolina Democratic Party’s federal lawsuit related to state ballot challenges. Democrats want a federal judge to address the issue.
Griffin filed a motion Monday to intervene in the Democrats’ lawsuit, which was filed Friday.
“The North Carolina Democratic Party (‘NCDP’) wants this Court to prevent the North Carolina State Board of Elections (‘NCSBE’) from sustaining election protests filed by Proposed Intervenor, Judge Jefferson Griffin. Judge Griffin has a direct and substantial interest in the success of his election protests: It’s the difference between winning and losing the November 2024 general election for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court,” Griffin’s lawyers wrote.
“The NCDP’s effort to prevent Judge Griffin from prevailing on his election protests represents an obvious threat to Judge Griffin’s interests, and Judge Griffin cannot rely on the NCSBE to adequately protect those interests,” the court filing continued. “Because the NCDP filed its complaint prematurely, the NCSBE has not yet decided whether it even agrees with the merits of Judge Griffin’s protests. The Court should therefore grant Judge Griffin’s motion to intervene.”
Griffin argued in a separate document against linking the Democrats’ lawsuit to a case already sitting before US Chief District Judge Richard Myers. In that dispute, state and national GOP groups challenge 225,000 voter registrations in North Carolina involving prospective voters who did not provide a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number.
“With different plaintiffs challenging different agency decisions under different legal theories,” the GOP suit “bears little resemblance” to the Democrats’ case, Griffin’s lawyers argued.
In a separate legal action, the North Carolina Court of Appeals could decide Tuesday whether to mandate that the state elections board issue a decision about Griffin’s protests.
Griffin asked Friday for a court order mandating an elections board decision by the end of the day Tuesday. The elections board had planned to discuss the issue in a meeting Wednesday.
“The State Board has no clear legal duty to decide Judge Griffin’s protests on his preferred schedule,” the elections board’s lawyers wrote Tuesday morning. “Judge Griffin’s counsel conceded as much to the Superior Court, explaining that no statute or rule supports this petition. Moreover, because the State Board would violate the Open Meetings Act if it decided the protests today, Judge Griffin has no clear right to his requested relief.”
“Nor has Judge Griffin established that the State Board is failing to expeditiously resolve his protests,” the elections board’s court filing continued. “In fact, the State Board has alreadyhastened resolution of this contest and is moving expeditiously to bring it to conclusion. Judge Griffin has shown no good reason for this Court to take the extraordinary and procedurally inapt measures he requests, all to decide an election protest a single day earlier than planned.”
As courtroom developments continue, state election officials expect to wrap up a hand-to-eye recount Tuesday in Griffin’s race against appointed incumbent Democrat Allison Riggs. After a statewide machine recount, Riggs leads Griffin by 734 votes out of 5.5 million ballots cast. The hand-to-eye recount involves a sample of precincts and early-voting sites across North Carolina. If that recount produces a disparity in vote totals that signals a possible impact on the statewide result, a third recount — involving a hand recount of every ballot across the state — could take place.
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