NC Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs claims victory over right-wing challenger Jefferson Griffin, recount underway

More than 5.5 million North Carolinians voted in the state Supreme Court election and, as of Friday morning, Riggs received 722 more votes than Griffin. This is similar to the 2020 state Supreme Court race where Democratic Chief Justice Cheri Beasley requested a recount after losing to Republican Paul Newby by 406 votes. After the recount, Beasley’s loss margin fell to 401.

Griffin has the right to request a recount just as Beasley did. What we won’t stand for, though, is any attempt to disenfranchise any of North Carolina’s voters. Former Gov. Pat McCrory tried claiming fraud after a recount confirmed that he lost to now-Gov. Roy Cooper in 2016. He made hundreds of false claims of voter fraud that did nothing but spread misinformation about legal votes and voters. Bad actors are again getting involved in our state’s Supreme Court race to try and sow distrust in our elections.

Griffin and his attorneys sued the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) earlier this week and have already filed at least one election protest in each of the state’s 100 counties. They are seeking to have 60,000 votes thrown out. A spokesperson for the NCSBE called Griffin’s lawsuit “thoroughly unnecessary.” 

The Wake County Board of Elections has already dismissed a complaint by far-right “election integrity” activist Jay Delancy, who sought to hold an entirely new election. After tossing the complaint, the board said it would have been “pointless to have a hearing on” the protest because “the allegations aren’t even specific as to Wake County.”

Let’s make things clear: The voters gave more votes to Allison Riggs than Jefferson Griffin, and we will protect and defend these voters’ right to participate in our democracy. No one – not a candidate, not a party, not the courts – should be able to disenfranchise voters simply because they don’t like the results of an election.