NC Court Says 65k Ballots Can By Tossed Out

[struggle4progress]

A three-judge panel in the North Carolina appeals court ruled Friday to disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters in the state’s Supreme Court election unless they can fix their ballots in 15 days. The decision comes from Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin’s election contest. Incumbent Democratic Justice Allison Riggs, whose victory Griffin challenged, joins Marc Elias to discuss what it means.

[struggle4progress]

1. ... The one Democratic judge involved in the state Court of Appeals' decision said

the majority’s ruling amounted to “changing the rules by which these lawful voters took part in our electoral process after the election to discard their otherwise valid votes” and called the majority's ruling an “an attempt to alter the outcome of only one race among many on the ballot is directly counter to law, equity, and the Constitution.”

The latest decision overturns a ruling by a lower state court from February that had effectively dismissed the case.

In a statement, Riggs said her campaign would appeal the ruling. Doing so is all but certain to put the case before the North Carolina state Supreme Court — the same bench whose seat is at stake in the case. Republicans currently have a 5-2 majority on that court ...

New court decision in a disputed North Carolina race means 65,000 votes are a step closer to be being thrown out
April 4, 2025, 2:48 PM EDT / Updated April 4, 2025, 3:36 PM EDT
By Adam Edelman

[struggle4progress]

2. Things Dire in State Judicial Race GOP Is Trying to Steal

By Billy Corriher
April 04, 20253:53 PM

In a cowardly unsigned opinion on Friday, two judges on the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled in favor of one of their colleagues, Judge Jefferson Griffin, in his quest to overturn an election that he narrowly lost in November.

Republican Judges Fred Gore and Hunter Tyson didn’t throw out the 65,000 ballots and declare Griffin the winner, as he had requested. But they are requiring election officials in a few Democratic counties to notify tens of thousands of voters of problems with their ballots or their registration. If the voters fail to fix the issues within 15 days, the ballots they cast in November—in accordance with all the rules in place at the time—will not be counted ...

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/04/north-carolina-judicial-race-gop-election-theft.html

[jmbar2]

3. Suggestion: Change title to "How NC voters can make sure their votes are counted".

Voters need to act quickly.

[struggle4progress]

4. ... Hampson's dissent begins by pointing out that Griffin "has yet to identify a single voter

—among the tens of thousands petitioner challenges in this appeal—who was, in fact, ineligible to vote in the 2024 general election under the statutes, rules, and regulations in place in November 2024 governing that election."

"Changing the rules by which these lawful voters took part in our electoral process after the election to discard their otherwise valid votes in an attempt to alter the outcome of only one race among many on the ballot is directly counter to law, equity, and the Constitution," Hampson argued ...

https://www.commondreams.org/news/allison-riggs-nc

[58Sunliner]

5. Dirty, filthy bastards.

[Bettie]

6. So, now elections are just decided

by the court in NC? They get to pick and choose which votes they want to count.

I am so angry about this fuckery.