Victory for North Carolina Voters: All Challenged Ballots in Contested Supreme Court Race Must be Counted
Raleigh, NC — Yesterday, military and overseas voters won a key victory in the ongoing legal battle over the race for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court. The court ruled that the election was conducted freely and fairly — ordering that the thousands of ballots challenged by candidate Jefferson Griffin should be counted. Judge Griffin’s challenges sought to throw out ballots by overseas and military voters who followed every instruction given to them.
This decision follows a lengthy legal battle stemming from Griffin’s loss to incumbent Justice Allison Riggs in the November election, a loss that was affirmed by a recount. This is a significant victory for democracy that allows thousands of voters to make their voices heard.
Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed briefs on behalf of Secure Families Initiative (SFI) at every step of the way in this case, working to ensure that military and overseas voters could have their ballots counted.
"Every North Carolinian — every American — should have confidence that when they cast their vote, that vote will be counted and their voice will be heard. This is as true for a military voter living overseas as it is for a lifelong resident of Raleigh,” said Danielle Lang, senior director for voting rights at Campaign Legal Center. “This decision affirms that truth, and it affirms that one person cannot overthrow an election by changing the rules after the fact just because they don’t like the results."
"The fight against voter disenfranchisement has never come easily throughout American history, and this case was no exception,” said Sarah Streyder, executive director of Secure Families Initiative. “We welcome today’s ruling as it re-affirms the right for military and overseas voters to have our voices heard in the elections that directly impact our lives."
The freedom to vote is essential to our democracy. We the people decide the outcome of elections with our votes, and any attempt by a bad actor who doesn’t like the results to change the rules after the votes have already been counted undermines the integrity of our elections. That cannot be allowed to happen.
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The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center advances democracy through law. We safeguard the freedom to vote, defend voters’ right to know who is spending money to influence elections, and work to ensure public trust in our elected officials.
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