Under the Dome: What to know if your vote is challenged by NC Supreme Court GOP candidate

Good morning and welcome to the Under the Dome newsletter. I’m Emily Vespa.

The North Carolina Supreme Court race still hasn’t been settled. GOP candidate Jefferson Griffin — who trails his opponent, Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs, by 734 votes after two recounts — has challenged the validity of over 60,000 ballots.

Griffin is challenging most voters because their registration lacks a driver’s license or Social Security number. He’s also challenging some military and overseas voters.

Here’s what to know if you’re affected by the challenges.

Only absentee or early voters are being challenged, not those who voted in-person on Election Day.

To find out if your vote is challenged, visit the page that houses Griffin’s protests on the State Board of Elections website. Then, follow these steps:

• Find the links with your home county. (For many counties, there are several filings.)

• Click a link to view the protest filing. Scroll to the spreadsheet, which is attached after the protest form.

• Use ctrl+F, or command+F on a Mac, to search for your name.

You should have received a mailing from the NC GOP if your vote is challenged.

There are various reasons why your driver’s license or Social Security number may not be listed on your electronic voter registration, the state board said in updated guidance for challenged voters Thursday.

Many voters provide the number when they register. The county board of elections tries to validate the number with government records.

“But because this effort involves attempting to match information in different government databases — using records created at different times in people’s lives — there are often mismatches in the data,” the state board website says. When that happens, the number is removed from the record, and the voter is asked to show an alternate ID when they first vote.

If your vote is challenged, you can contact your county board with questions, including how to update your information.

But as Kyle Ingram reports, remedying any potential issues with your voter registration may not affect the case now because Griffin is arguing that the voters were ineligible when they cast their votes.

It’s hard to predict how a court could resolve the challenges if it decides to uphold them. One potential outcome could entail a “cure period,” in which challenged voters could have an opportunity to provide identification to make sure their vote counts. A court could also order a new special election in the race.

Ingram has more answers to common questions about the increasingly complicated case. And here’s a timeline of the drawn-out legal process so far, also from Kyle.

STATE HEALTH PLAN PREMIUMS MAY RISE IN 2026, BRINER SAYS

State Health Plan members might face a premium increase for the first time in nine years in 2026 due to financial shortfalls, State Treasurer Brad Briner said Thursday.

Briner told the State Board of Education there’s a $507 million deficit under the plan, though he said the legislature has provided record appropriations to it, reports Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi. Briner said he’s considering a minimum $20 per month increase for all state employees, with a means-tested plan to lessen impact on the lowest-paid workers.

Before Briner’s comments, a teacher and adviser to the board said the funding troubles and inadequate teacher pay would hurt teacher retention.

“When we can’t afford to take ourselves or our children to the hospital, can’t carry our families on our health plans, and don’t receive compensation increases to cover inflation and the rising cost of living, we will lose good teachers,” said Kim Jones, a Chapel Hill-Carrboro teacher.

WHAT ELSE WE’RE WORKING ON

• Gov. Josh Stein has canceled his inaugural ceremony and other related festivities this weekend due to winter storms in the forecast, reports Avi Bajpai.

Today’s newsletter was by Emily Vespa. Check your inbox on Sunday for more #ncpol.

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This story was originally published January 10, 2025 at 9:48 AM.