The Republican Party is trying everything it can to take power from the Democrats, even if it means invalidating tens of thousands of votes in the process.
U.S. election fraud is rare. Republican poll watchers disagree
Jim Womack, a local Republican Party chair in North Carolina, is training volunteers to monitor the Nov. 5 vote. Election officials in Lee County say they are concerned that these sessions could lead to disruptions at the polls.
While the rest of the country has moved on from the 2024 election, one race in North Carolina is still stuck in limbo.
The election for a state Supreme Court seat between Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs and Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin is still going on four months later due to Griffin’s legal challenge of about 65,000 ballots.
A three-judge Court of Appeals panel will hear the case Friday, despite Riggs’ request that arguments be heard by the entire 15-judge court. The panel will consist of two Republican judges and one Democrat – a bad sign for Riggs. It’s likely that this case will make its way to the state Supreme Court.
It is disturbing that the Republican Party would go so far as to try and throw out tens of thousands of votes to win an election that won’t decide the makeup of North Carolina’s Supreme Court. The current court has a 5-2 Republican majority.
This legal battle doesn’t benefit North Carolinians, who deserve to see this election resolved and Riggs take the seat she was elected to. Instead, the Republican Party is trying everything it can to take power from the Democrats, even if it means invalidating tens of thousands of votes in the process.
Republicans have a history of undermining elections
This did not happen overnight. For years, Republicans in North Carolina and across the country have questioned the legitimacy of U.S. elections to the point that their own 2020 presidential nominee, Donald Trump, refused to concede due to allegations of widespread voter fraud.
Between election years, Republican legislators across the country passed laws to restrict voting, particularly in the South and Midwest. These reforms disproportionately affected Black voters.
In 2024, Republicans were prepared to challenge the election results again. Before Election Day, Republicans filed lawsuits in three states (including North Carolina) that challenged the ballots of overseas and military voters.
This year, Republicans are trying to go even further by introducing the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act at the state and federal level, which aims to keep noncitizens from voting in U.S. elections – even though it’s already illegal for them to do so.
If the Republican Party truly cared about the security of U.S. elections, they would realize how much their lawsuit in North Carolina threatens the will of voters. Instead, the Republican challengers care so much about “election integrity” that they are willing to throw out 65,000 legal votes to get the outcome that they want. That is the opposite of free and fair elections and unbecoming of any true democracy.
Two recounts have already confirmed the North Carolina results
Recounts have already confirmed Riggs’ win by 734 votes, but Griffin lobbed a challenge at voters who had no Social Security number or driver’s license number in the state database, even though the reasons behind that are most likely due to clerical errors, not the fault of the voter.
Also, every North Carolina resident must already provide photo identification in order to vote.
Griffin is also challenging military and overseas ballots, as well as votes cast by the children of North Carolina residents who were born abroad.
It would be different if Griffin had challenged these voter laws well before the election. Instead, he waited until after he knew the results to challenge them.
Judge Bob Orr, a former North Carolina Supreme Court justice, cited the Purcell principle as a reason against Griffin’s legal challenge. The principle is that states should not change election laws close to an election to avoid any confusion about the law. The doctrine was also mentioned by Republican Judge Richard Dietz in a January dissent regarding the certification of this election.
“If you’ve got problems with the way statutes are written or being administered, you don’t wait until after the election to see whether you win or lose to challenge it,” Orr told me. “You need to do it in advance.”
I am worried about the long-term impact on NC elections
This week, more than 200 jurists, senior state government officials, bar leaders, legal educators and practicing attorneys sent a letter to Griffin, pleading with him to drop the case.
“The arguments you have advanced ask our judicial system to change the rules in place for the 2024 election after it has run its course,” the letter reads. “Indeed, if you succeed, tens of thousands of voters will lose their voice after they voted.”
I understand that this must play out in court now, but it feels like the Republicans are doing everything in their power to subvert a free and fair election. That is the reality of what is at stake.
I fear that, if Griffin is successful, he will permanently undermine the integrity of North Carolina elections after Republicans put so much effort into doing it federally.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter: @sara__pequeno
