A federal judge on Monday ordered the North Carolina State Board of Elections to certify results declaring Democrat Allison Riggs the winner of the state Supreme Court Seat 6 race, rejecting Republican Jefferson Griffin’s challenge to thousands of ballots cast in November’s election.
U.S. District Judge Richard Myers, a Trump appointee, ruled that removing ballots from military, overseas, and “Never Resident” voters months after Election Day would violate the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of due process and equal protection. Griffin’s challenge sought to disqualify ballots that lacked photo ID or exception forms, but Myers said changing the rules after the fact would unfairly disenfranchise select voters. “You establish the rules before the game. You don’t change them after the game is done,” Myers wrote in his 68-page ruling.
Riggs was ahead by just 734 votes after two recounts. Myers ordered the board to certify the results based on the final canvass from December 10, 2024, and blocked implementation of North Carolina court rulings that had sought to invalidate certain absentee ballots. His ruling is paused for seven days to allow Griffin time to appeal.
Griffin’s protests, which state officials had already dismissed, challenged ballots cast by overseas military voters and U.S. citizens who had never lived in the country but whose parents were North Carolina residents. Although state courts attempted to allow voters to “cure” the ballots with missing ID, Myers concluded the legal process amounted to retroactive disenfranchisement targeting voters in mostly Democratic-leaning counties.
More than 5.5 million ballots were cast in the race, making it the last unresolved contest from November’s elections.
