North Carolina Supreme Court: Jefferson Griffin (R), Allison Riggs (D); WRAL
The hotly contested North Carolina Supreme Court race is now in federal court awaiting a ruling from a Trump-appointed judge.
The North Carolina Supreme Court earlier this month ruled that most of the 65,000 questionable ballots must count in the hotly contested judicial race.
The North Carolina Supreme Court race headed for a recount due to a close final tally as the Democrat pulled ahead two weeks after Election Day.
Democrat incumbent Sarah Riggs closed the race with 2,770,818 votes to GOP challenger Jefferson Griffin’s 2,770,193 votes.
The race went to a recount since the vote difference is fewer than 10,000 votes.
Republican Griffin was leading the race until all of a sudden Democrat Riggs overcame her opponent weeks after the election.
In January, the North Carolina Supreme Court in a 5-1 vote blocked the state from certifying Democrat incumbent justice Allison Riggs as the winner of the race as her GOP opponent, Jefferson Griffin, challenges the election.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals previously ruled that approximately 65,000 ballots — cast by voters with incomplete registration information, missing photo identification, or submitted by individuals who have never lived in North Carolina — may be invalid under state and federal election law.
The 2-1 decision was authored by Judges John Tyson and Fred Gore, both registered Republicans. Judge Tobias Hampson, a Democrat, dissented.
A couple of weeks ago the state’s high court ruled 4-2 that most of the challenged ballots must be counted.
Because the race is so close, even if a small percent of the questionable ballots are tossed out, Republican candidate Griffin can overcome the Democrat and win.
According to Carolina Coast Online, several parties submitted briefs to Judge Myers last Friday.
“Griffin urges Myers to reject requests from Riggs, the elections board, and other interested parties to throw out the cure process. His lawyers emphasized state courts’ role in addressing a dispute for an election to a state office,” Carolina Coast Online reported.
Democrat Riggs called Griffin’s election protest “unconstitutional” in her brief.
This case has been bouncing around between state and federal courts for several months.
And now we await a ruling from US Chief District Judge Richard Myers.
The Trump-appointed federal judge said he will issue a ruling “as soon as possible.”
Carolina Coast Online reported:
The next major development in North Carolina’s unresolved 2024 state Supreme Court election is likely to depend on a ruling from a federal trial judge. There’s no deadline for his decision, though he has pledged to act “as soon as practicable.”
Monday marks the deadline for final written briefs addressed to US Chief District Judge Richard Myers. Myers’ court orders have indicated that he plans no oral arguments in the dispute pitting Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin against the State Board of Elections and Democrat Allison Riggs.
So observers of the nearly six-month legal battle over Riggs’ state Supreme Court seat will watch and wait for a decision from Myers’ courtroom.
The post North Carolina Supreme Court Battle Now in Federal Court in This Judge’s Hands appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.