XPost: talk.politics.misc, triangle.politics, alt.politics.elections
XPost: sac.politics

A three-judge panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled Friday
that more than 65,000 votes cast in the contested race for the state
Supreme Court in 2024 must be recounted and verified — a win for the
Republican candidate in the razor-thin, disputed contest and a decision
that could potentially tip the election results in his favor.

In the ruling, the Republican majority involved in the decision ordered
that a group of more than 65,000 voters, whose eligibility was challenged
by Republican Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin and his lawyers,
now have 15 business days to provide state elections officials with the necessary proof of identity that would verify their votes. The court ruled
that any voters who don’t respond will not have their votes counted in the
race between Griffin and Democrat Allison Riggs, which is still caught in
legal battling five months after Election Day.

The arduous task of verifying those voter identities will fall on the
North Carolina State Board of Elections. And the decision sets up an
appeal to North Carolina's highest court, the state Supreme Court — the
body that the winner of this election will join.

“The inclusion of even one unlawful ballot in a vote total dilutes the
lawful votes and ‘effectively disenfranchises’ lawful voters,” the
Republican majority on the three-person panel wrote in its opinion. “Post- election protests protect against this risk of vote dilution by enabling candidates and voters to rigorously investigate the election process,
identify and challenge unlawful ballots, and ensure those ballots are not counted.”

The one Democratic judge involved in the state Court of Appeals' decision
said the majority’s ruling amounted to “changing the rules by which these lawful voters took part in our electoral process after the election to
discard their otherwise valid votes” and called the majority's ruling an
“an attempt to alter the outcome of only one race among many on the ballot
is directly counter to law, equity, and the Constitution.”

The latest decision overturns a ruling by a lower state court from
February that had effectively dismissed the case.

In a statement, Riggs said her campaign would appeal the ruling. Doing so
is all but certain to put the case before the North Carolina state Supreme Court — the same bench whose seat is at stake in the case. Republicans currently have a 5-2 majority on that court.

“We will be promptly appealing this deeply misinformed decision that
threatens to disenfranchise more than 65,000 lawful voters and sets a
dangerous precedent, allowing disappointed politicians to thwart the will
of the people,” Riggs said in an emailed statement. “North Carolinians
elected me to keep my seat and I swore an oath to the constitution and the
rule of law — so I will continue to stand up for the rights of voters in
this state and stand in the way of those who would take power from the
people.”

In a statement, Griffin spokesperson Paul Shumaker said, "We are pleased"
with the ruling, calling it "a win for the citizens of North Carolina."

Griffin himself sits on the Court of Appeals but recused himself from the
case.

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said in a statement that
"this partisan decision has no legal basis and is an all-out assault on
our democracy and the basic premise that voters decide who wins their elections."

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/new-court-decision-disputed- north-carolina-race-means-65000-votes-are-rcna199746

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)