Federal judge says results of North Carolina court race with Democrat ahead must be certified

The State Board of Elections was ordered to certify results that after recounts showed Democrat Allison Riggs the winner over GOP challenger Jefferson Griffin.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Disputed ballots in the still unresolved 2024 race for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat must remain in the final count, a federal judge ruled late Monday, a decision that if upheld would result in an electoral victory for Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs.

U.S. District Judge Richard Myers agreed with Riggs and others who argued it would be a violation of the U.S. Constitution to carry out recent decisions by state appeals courts that directed the removal of potentially thousands of voter ballots deemed ineligible. Myers wrote that votes couldn’t be removed six months after Election Day without damaging due process and equal protection rights of the affected residents.

Myers also ordered the State Board of Elections to certify results that after two recounts showed Riggs the winner — by just 734 votes — over Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin. But the judge delayed his decisions for seven days in case Griffin wants to appeal the ruling to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

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The board “must not proceed with implementation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals and Supreme Court’s orders, and instead must certify the results of the election for (the seat) based on the tally at the completion of the canvassing period,” wrote Myers, who was nominated to the bench by President Donald Trump.