A federal judge ordered the North Carolina Election Commission on Monday to prove the outcome of Democrat Allison Riggs as the winner of the state Supreme Court’s competition against Republican Jefferson Griffin, determining that thousands of contested votes in the November contest must remain in the final count.
US District Judge Richard Myers, appointed by President Donald Trump in 2019, agreed with Riggs and others who argue that it violates the US Constitution to make a recent decision by the US Court of Appeals. US. Myers wrote that votes cannot be removed six months after Election Date without undermining due process or equal protection of affected residents.
Myers ordered the state election commission to prove that after two recounts, he had the rig as the winner with just 734 votes over Griffin.
Federal judges return the fight through NC Supreme Court elections to state court
Judge Jefferson Griffin, North Carolina Court of Appeals, and Deputy Judge Alison Riggs, North Carolina Supreme Court. (North Carolina Court Management Office via the AP)
“The State Commission shall certify the results of the seat six election based on the tally upon completion of the canvas period on December 10, 2024,” Myers wrote, denying Griffin’s judicial review and injunctive relief petition.
The judge delayed the order for seven days in case Griffin wanted to appeal the decision to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Over 5.5 million votes have been held for the last undecided race in the country since the November election.
“The lawsuit concerns whether the federal constitution changes election rules after fact and allows those changes to be retroactively applied to only selected groups of voters, and in doing so, treating voters different from other similarly circumstantial individuals.”
The board “should not proceed with the implementation of North Carolina Court of Appeals and Supreme Court orders, and instead must prove the results of the election based on the tally at the time of completion of the canvas period,” Myers wrote.
Griffin filed a formal protest after the election, hoping that he himself was a court court of the Court of Appeals and that removing the vote he said he had threw illegally would overturn the outcome.
Griffin’s legal team was considering Myers’ orders on Monday night and assessing the next step, Griffin Campaign spokesman Paul Schmaker told The Associated Press.
Democrat Deputy Judge Allison Riggs speaks to protesters at a rally held in Raleigh, North Carolina on Monday, April 14, 2025 (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera)
Federal judges focus on the last undecided 2024 election
“We won today,” Riggs said in a statement. “I am proud to continue to support the constitution and the rule of law as a judge on the North Carolina Supreme Court.”
Griffin wanted Myers to remain unobstructed by the state court decision. This also directed that most voters with ineligible votes would get 30 days to provide identification information to keep the race choices in the tally.
Riggs, State Democrats and some affected voters said Griffin is trying to change the 2024 election results after the fact by removing votes cast by voters who comply with the voting rules written last fall.
Myers wrote that Griffin’s formal protests rejected by the state election commission constituted an effort to make retroactive changes to the voting law, which arbitrarily disenfranchised only Griffin’s targeted voters. The challenges for voters who do not provide Griffin’s photo identification are covered only in the majority of six democratic counties in the state.
Judge Jefferson Griffin, a Republican candidate for the North Carolina Supreme Court, hears testimony in Wake County Superior Court on Friday, February 7, 2025 in Raleigh, North Carolina (Robert Willett/News & Observer, AP, File)
“We’ll establish rules before the game. We won’t change them after the game is over,” Myers wrote in a 68-page order. “Allowing parties to “overturn the setting rules” of elections after an election is held “issued,” he added, “””and “undermines the public’s trust in federal courts, state agencies and the election itself.”
One category of votes that are recognized as military or international voters that the appeal court does not provide a copy of the photo identification or ID exception form on an absentee ballot. State regulations exempt them from the requirements. The appeals court had allowed these voters to have a “treatment” process, so their votes could still be counted in the race.
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The other categories of votes declared by the Court of Appeals declared violated the state constitution. He has never lived in the United States but was cast by overseas voters whose parents were declared North Carolina residents. State law allowed these people to vote in state elections.
Griffin has filed a formal protest that appears to cover more than 65,000 votes. According to court filings, the state court’s decision reduced the total to 1,675-7,000.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Daniel Wallace is a news and political reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and to X:@danimwallace.
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