JUSTICE ALLISON RIGGS CALLS ON WAKE CO. SUPERIOR COURT TO DISMISS GRIFFIN’S BASELESS LAWSUITS
Raleigh, NC – Justice Allison Riggs asked the Wake County Superior Court to reject Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin’s “fatally flawed” lawsuits that would disenfranchise more than 65,000 voters, including military service members and their families.
Justice Riggs won the election for North Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice in November 2024. More than two months after the election, losing candidate and sitting Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin still has not acknowledged the will of North Carolinian voters by conceding.
Griffin v. State Board of Elections was heard by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on January 27, with their order pending. The State Supreme Court recently denied Griffin’s request for a writ of prohibition, but sent his case back to the Wake Co. Superior Court, which will hold oral arguments on Friday, February 7.
In one of the filings today, Justice Riggs’ attorneys emphasized that Judge Griffin’s efforts are specifically designed to disenfranchise active duty military and their families who are serving our country overseas. Importantly, the briefing also highlights that Griffin is only seeking to throw out ballots of these lawful voters who are registered in four Democratic-leaning counties.
In an additional filing, Justice Riggs’ legal team highlighted that Judge Griffin’s baseless claims would disenfranchise more than 60,000 other lawful voters who did nothing wrong. As the filing notes, “State law is clear that a voter—once registered—is not subject to challenge at all (much less years later) on the grounds of an issue with the voter’s registration.”
As Riggs’ attorneys wrote in today’s filing, Judge Griffin’s protest “reflects an unlawful attempt to change the election rules after the game has been played, and because Judge Griffin failed to give these voters proper notice, but also because the protest fails on its own merits under federal and state law.”
“While Justice Riggs continues to uphold her duty as a constitutional officer to protect the rights of North Carolinians, Judge Griffin is wasting taxpayer resources and attacking our rights in a baseless attempt to thwart the will of voters. It is past time for Judge Griffin to concede. We remain fully committed to standing up for every voter in North Carolina,”said Embry Owen, spokesperson for the Riggs campaign.