Recount Demanded in Tight North Carolina Supreme Court Race Amid Heated Allegations

As of this writing, the Supreme Court race was and remains in North Carolina as the only statewide election that has not yet been decided.

 

To recap, the morning after the election, the Republican candidate, Jefferson Griffin, was up by around 10,000 votes over Democrat state Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs.

 

Griffin’s lead shrank throughout what was supposed to be a 10-day canvass period by county boards. BOEs kept counting absentee votes, including those cast on Election Day, as well as those from overseas military voters who had to submit their ballots by Thursday, the 14th, the day before the deadline for the county canvass.

 

The provisional ballots also had to be reviewed, and a decision made as to which ones would be added to the totals.

 

On Friday night, Wake, the largest county in the state and a heavily Democratic county, posted its provisionals. They also updated their totals, with numbers just enough to put Riggs over Griffin by 150 votes. The deadline was extended until Monday because several other counties, including a semi-big Democrat County, were not done.

 

This sparked questions and concerns, as some questioned why there were hard deadlines for elections if counties could break them. Some people thought it was convenient that the largest county in the state, which is also one of its most Democratic, didn’t update their numbers until they knew how many Riggs were needed to surpass Griffin.

 

As of Monday evening, all but two counties in North Carolina had completed their canvassing. The remaining two (Duplin & Northampton) are believed to have been delayed due to technical reasons, and no changes to the numbers are expected.

 

Riggs now leads by 625 votes. How did we reach this point? Andy Jackson, from the John Locke Foundation, explains:

 

 

 

 

Many have speculated about the role that ballot curing (which Democrats were out in force to do) played in Riggs’ victory in the race.

 

 

 

Griffin’s campaign, along with the NCGOP, filed a suit Monday claiming that the state board did not provide them with the documents and information they requested on Saturday promptly. This would have allowed them to better decide whether they should call for a recount (previous recounts of high-profile statewide elections in the state had not changed the results).

 

Since then, there’s been some debate about whether or not the election board gave them what was needed.

 

 

It was reported on Tuesday morning that Griffin had indeed requested a recount. This was about 15 minutes before the deadline for requesting a recount.

 

 

If Griffin wins, the court will be 6-1 Republican. If Riggs wins, the state’s court will remain 5-2 Republican, giving Democrats hope to flip it back in their favor by 2028 when there are three NC Supreme Court elections featuring Republican incumbents. We’ll continue to provide updates as they become available.