NC won’t conduct full hand recount in Supreme Court race after sample affirms Riggs’ lead
North Carolina will not conduct a statewide recount by hand of the state Supreme Court race after two initial reviews of the results showed Democrat Allison Riggs maintaining her lead.
First, the State Board of Elections conducted a statewide machine recount of all ballots, which affirmed Riggs’ 734-vote lead over Republican Jefferson Griffin.
On Griffin’s request, the board then conducted a sample hand recount in a random selection of precincts. That review, which finished Tuesday, did not show a substantial change in the results that, if extrapolated statewide, would have changed the outcome.
“I am ready to continue serving all North Carolinians on our state’s highest court, and I am grateful that voters have placed their trust in me,” Riggs said in a press release on Tuesday. “This victory shows our democracy in action, and the recount process demonstrates that our elections are incredibly well-run.”
During the sample hand recount, Riggs gained a net total of 70 votes and Griffin gained a net total of 56 votes.
For a full hand recount to have been ordered, Griffin would have had to pick up at least 35 more votes than Riggs, per state law.
“We appreciate the hard work and efforts from the county boards of elections,” Matt Mercer, communications director for the NC GOP, said in a statement.
The race isn’t over yet, though.
Griffin has challenged over 60,000 ballots in the race, arguing that they were cast by ineligible voters.
The News & Observer reported that Black registered voters were twice as likely to have their votes challenged in those protests as white voters.
Griffin’s protests will be considered by the State Board of Elections on Wednesday.
He asked the state Court of Appeals to force the board to rule on his protests a day earlier, but the court rejected his request on Tuesday, writing that it did not have jurisdiction to “to compel the manner or timing of (the board’s) decision in this instance.”
If the board ultimately dismisses Griffin’s protests, he can appeal to Wake County Superior Court. From there, the case could make its way all the way up to the state Supreme Court itself.
Democrats rail against protests
Democrats called Griffin’s protests a “political temper tantrum” at a news conference outside the Supreme Court building on Tuesday and urged him to concede the race to Riggs.
“Republicans continue to demonstrate a refusal to believe that sometimes they lose because sometimes their views are out of touch with the voters,” NC Democratic Party Second Vice Chair Kimberly Hardy said.
Several of the speakers at the news conference, including Hardy, had their own ballots challenged in Griffin’s protests.
Gabby Chiarenza, a legislative assistant for Durham Democratic Rep. Marcia Morey, said she contacted the local board of elections when she found out her vote was being challenged, but the board said there was no issue with her registration.
“I’d be happy to arrive on Jefferson Griffin’s doorstep with my birth certificate, Social Security card, driver’s license and whatever else he wanted to assure him that I’m a real person and a real citizen,” Chiarenza said. “But that’s not the point of this challenge. Jefferson Griffin and the GOP do not actually want to make this election safe and secure. They want to throw out as many ballots as it’ll take to declare a victory.”
The state Democratic Party filed a federal lawsuit on Friday over Griffin’s protests, arguing that they could lead to “mass disenfranchisement” and violate North Carolinians’ fundamental right to vote.
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This story was originally published December 10, 2024 at 2:00 PM.
