The national Democratic Party is intervening in a legal battle over a North Carolina Supreme Court seat, alleging the state Republican Party is trying to steal an election.
The Democratic National Committee filed a legal brief in opposition to a Republican lawsuit to invalidate tens of thousands of ballots from the 2024 election.
The race in question is the reelection of Democratic Justice Allison Riggs. After two recounts, Riggs won the election by 734 votes, defeating state appeals court Judge Jefferson Griffin.
But in a 4-2 vote Tuesday, the GOP-controlled state Supreme Court blocked the certification of Riggs’ reelection. Griffin and the North Carolina Republican Party claim that nearly 60,000 people voted illegally in the election.
The Democrat-led state Board of Elections has rejected their claim, prompting state Republicans to bring the case to the state’s highest court. Riggs, who currently sits on the court, has recused herself from the matter. The case, which was initially heard in a federal court, was sent back down to the state level by Donald Trump-appointed District Judge Richard Myers.
Now, the state’s high court will decide on a case that directly impacts its own makeup.
Griffin’s attorneys say North Carolina’s election databases show that there are registered voters missing either a driver’s license or Social Security number on file. State law requires that voters present valid identification to vote in person or by mail. There are also challenges that some ballots should be thrown out because they were cast by voters who live overseas.
In its intervening court filing, the DNC said North Carolina Republicans “cannot prove” their claims.
“State and federal law has been clear for over a century: once an eligible voter is added to the voter rolls, a minor defect in his or her registration form is not grounds to delete his subsequent vote,” the DNC’s brief said in opposition to Republicans’ request for an emergency injunction.
“For months, North Carolina Republicans have attempted to steal an election in plain sight at taxpayers’ expense,” DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement announcing the DNC’s intervention. “While Republicans attempt to suppress the votes of their constituents, Democrats will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that voters determine elections — not politicians. On November 5, North Carolina voters elected Justice Allison Riggs. Their voices will be heard.”
Republicans have said their legal efforts are in pursuit of rooting out voter fraud.
“The people of North Carolina deserve confidence in the administration of elections,” North Carolina GOP Chairman Jason Simmons said in a statement after Republicans filed. “Safeguarding election integrity is critical to ensuring trust in the democratic process and the only way to protect the voices of lawful voters.”
Democrats have now countered that point in court.
“They claim they are combating ‘voter fraud,’ yet they attempt to disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters who have lawfully registered and cast their ballots for decades. They claim they are promoting ‘election integrity,’ but their lawsuit undermines voters’ ability to trust that their voter registrations are valid and their votes will be counted,” the DNC’s brief reads.
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Calen Razor is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.