Five months after the election, North Carolinians are still talking about who might win in the race for the highest state court.
North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs, a Democrat, was elected in November 2024, but her seat is still being contested by her opponent in the 2024 election, Republican Jefferson Griffin, after Riggs won by 734 votes after two recounts. Griffin challenged the ballots in November and claimed that 65,782 ballots should not be included in the election results because they failed to follow state law. This is the only statewide race from the November 2024 election that remains uncertified.
According to the list of challenged voters and the Elon University student directory, the 65,782 challenged ballots included votes from at least 19 Elon University students, but the state Supreme Court most recently ruled on April 11 that only challenged military and overseas absentee ballots are at risk of being thrown out if no photo ID is provided. A federal judge heard the case on April 12 and ordered the North Carolina State Board of Elections to enforce the state Supreme Court’s ruling but blocked certification of those results until further order from that federal court.
Jillian Auditori, a lecturer in political science and public policy at Elon University, said she believes Griffin continuing to pursue the contesting of the election after two recounts shows how fragile America’s democracy is today.
“They’re looking for other avenues to win races and that’s not very democratic,” Auditori said. “It’s not a sign of a strong democracy when you start to try to find new and innovative ways to win elections.”
Auditori said she does not believe all of the challenged voters will take action because of the confusion surrounding the process.
“It’s going to be an effort for those voters, and likely they’re not all going to make that effort to ensure that their vote ultimately is counted,” Auditori said.
On April 4, the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that the challenged voters have to provide proof of identity to the North Carolina Board of Elections within 15 business days or their ballots will be thrown out. This means the election could be overturned as Riggs only won the race by 734 votes. Griffin currently serves on the Court of Appeals but recused himself from the case deliberations.
Griffin challenged three groups of voters: a group of more than 60,000 people whose voter registration lacked the last four digits of their social security number or a driver’s license number, thousands of military and overseas absentee voters and a few hundred absentee voters who have never lived in North Carolina but are connected to the state through their parents.
Of the estimated 60,000 voters who were challenged for incomplete registration, 722 are registered in Alamance County, including 80 in the town of Elon and 19 Elon University students. Sophomore Benjamin Doeringer-Smith is on the list and said he was pretty concerned when he first heard that his vote was in limbo. However, he believes that the voting mistakes he may have made should fall on him.
“The whole point of the process is to be secure. So if there was some kind of security breach due to wrong information or me filling out something twice or incorrectly, that falls on me,” Doeringer-Smith said. “But at the same time, I do have that right to vote. So making sure it’s maintained well and I’m doing the right things on my end, holding myself accountable while also holding other people accountable is important.”
He said he believes he should have been made aware of his mistakes earlier on in the process rather than being allowed to vote incorrectly.
“I feel like somebody should have told me earlier in the process,” Doeringer-Smith said. “It definitely makes me feel a little violated in that sense of, ‘Why did I stand in line for an hour at the ballots?’”
Bob Frigo, director of the Kernodle Center for Civic Life, wrote in a statement to Elon News Network that Elon Votes — Elon University’s nonpartisan campus organization dedicated to helping students vote in upcoming elections — is following the guidance of the Alamance County Board of Elections. Frigo declined an interview and wrote that Elon Votes does not have a stance or perspective on this issue.
Following the Appeals Court ruling, Riggs appealed to the state Supreme Court, which had previously supported Griffin’s cause when it blocked the North Carolina State Board of Elections from certifying Riggs’ victory in December 2024.
But a surprise ruling came shortly after the North Carolina Supreme Court, which currently has a 5-2 conservative majority with Riggs on it, granted a temporary halt on the ruling on April 7. Riggs recused herself from the deliberations.
After reviewing the case, the state Supreme Court ruled 4-2 on April 11 that the group of 60,000 challenged ballots must remain in the election count, but upheld the Court of Appeals ruling on a group of about 5,000 military and overseas absentee voters, ordering voters to show their photo ID within 30 days after they are notified, a significant increase from the original 15-day “cure period” the Court of Appeals ordered.
The court also upheld the Court of Appeals ruling on absentee voters who have never lived in the state, ruling that these voters should never have been allowed to vote.
One Republican and one Democratic judge voted against the decision. Democratic North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls concurred with the ruling on the estimated 60,000 ballots that had incomplete registration but disagreed with the court’s other rulings, saying that changing voting rules after the election violates precedent.
“It is no small thing to overturn the results of an election in a democracy by throwing out ballots that were legally cast consistent with all election laws in effect on the day of the election,” Earls wrote in her opinion. “Some would call it stealing the election, others might call it a bloodless coup, but by whatever name, no amount of smoke and mirrors makes it legitimate.”
Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, condemned the court’s ruling, calling it a “dark day” on social media on April 11 and wrote that active military voters should not have to “jump through hoops” that other voters don’t as it violates the constitutional right to be treated equally under the law.
Both Riggs’ and Griffin’s campaigns did not respond to Elon News Network’s request for comment.
The 60,000 ballots being reinstated is a big win for Riggs, but with only a 734-vote lead, the few thousand votes from military and overseas voters could change the outcome of the election.
Auditori said that despite it being five months after the election, if the election were to be overturned, it would be an easy transition for Griffin.
“The Supreme Court is currently made up of five Republicans, two Democrats with Riggs. So if she loses her seat, then you’re looking at a very politically unbalanced court,” Auditori said. “But for Griffin to step into that, that will be to his advantage. He will become part of a court that is likely glad to have him there.”
Soon after the monumental decision by the state Supreme Court, federal courts got involved. After the ruling was announced, Riggs released a statement expressing her gratitude for the reversal of the 60,000 voters but promised to seek action in federal court regarding the other rulings. She filed a motion in the U.S. District Court in Raleigh asking for an injunction to prevent the appeals court decisions from being carried out immediately.
“I’m the proud daughter of a 30-year military veteran who was deployed overseas, and it is unacceptable that the Court is choosing to selectively disenfranchise North Carolinians serving our country, here and overseas,” Riggs wrote. “I will not waiver in my fight to protect the fundamental freedoms for which our military service members and their families have sacrificed so much.”
US Chief District Judge Richard Myers ordered the North Carolina State Board of Elections on April 12 to begin proceeding with the state Supreme Court’s order but barred them from certifying the results of the election until further order from the court. The state board of elections will begin notifying affected voters soon as Myers set an April 15 deadline for the state elections board to provide him details on their plan to remedy the election results.
Auditori said Griffin’s disputing of the election will continue to be a blueprint for contested elections in the years to come and that it only worsens the idea of unfair elections in today’s political climate.
“The public is going to feel less and less convinced that we are having free and fair elections when things like this happen,” Auditori said. “It continues to undermine our system of elections when cases like this make their way into the courts and then have success in the courts.”
Fiona McAllister contributed to the reporting of this story.