Allison Riggs, left, and Jefferson Griffin, right, are running for a seat on the NC Supreme Court. Here's why it's the most important election in North Carolina. (Photos via Riggs, Griffin campaigns)
A few races in North Carolina have shifted during the provisional ballot counting period this year, including the enormous race for NC Supreme Court between Allison Riggs and Jefferson Griffin. Here’s why this can happen.
On Friday, Allison Riggs’ vote count exceeded Jefferson Griffin’s in the race for NC Supreme Court.
Whether or not it stays that way—the last counties are expected to finish counting provisional ballots on Monday—Riggs didn’t “catch up” to Griffin. She didn’t “surge into” or “take” the lead. Her count exceeded Griffin’s.
Here’s why it’s important to note the difference.
This election has already happened. These aren’t new votes that helped Riggs. These people already voted. We’re just now counting their ballots.
When one candidate catches up to another during the provisional ballot counting, it’s unusual in a statewide race, which typically has larger margins. But it’s not evidence of corruption or a broken process. In fact, it is the process.
View this post on Instagram
Ask Cheri Beasley, North Carolina’s former chief justice of the Supreme Court, who saw the count flip back and forth between her and her opponent, Paul Newby, in 2020 as provisional votes were counted. Newby ended up winning by 401 votes.
In other words, this isn’t a foot race, even if lots of media outlets cover it that way. Determining who wins an election is about simple arithmetic and counting all the eligible votes, and provisional ballots take longer to show up in the count.
It takes longer because about 64,000 North Carolinians voted with provisional ballots this year and election officials have to vet each one.
Voting provisionally means that your vote will count if you can prove that you’re an eligible voter during the canvassing period after the election. For those who don’t prove it, their votes won’t count.
Provisional voting happens for a number of reasons. People can show up to the wrong precinct—which was to be expected in the counties hit by Helene that saw some polling places moved.
They can show up to vote and find that they’re not on the voting rolls in their county, but they should be. Or they don’t have the right photo ID. This was the first presidential election in North Carolina with voter ID in effect.
That said, counting provisional ballots like this isn’t new or shady.
It is a tried and true method, and if anyone from either party tries to tell you that it is evidence of corruption or a “stolen” election, they are not telling you the truth and you should stop listening to them.
Whatever happens in the race for the NC Supreme Court, extremely close elections like this tell us what we already knew—North Carolina is very evenly divided. It is not held by one point of view, but many.
And, most importantly, every single eligible vote must be counted.
Author
Support Our Cause
Thank you for taking the time to read our work. Before you go, we hope you'll consider supporting our values-driven journalism, which has always strived to make clear what's really at stake for North Carolinians and our future.
Since day one, our goal here at Cardinal & Pine has always been to empower people across the state with fact-based news and information. We believe that when people are armed with knowledge about what's happening in their local, state, and federal governments—including who is working on their behalf and who is actively trying to block efforts aimed at improving the daily lives of North Carolina families—they will be inspired to become civically engaged.
A powerful NC lawmaker spread misinformation about elections. Here’s what NC’s top election official has to say about it.
Every word of NC election chief Karen Brinson Bell's rebuttal of misinformation spread by NC Senate President Phil Berger. This week, one of North...
OPINION: Tight NC Supreme Court race proves again that every single vote matters
The election of a crucial seat on North Carolina’s highest court, which could have outsized power over abortion rights and democracy, looks like it...
Op-Ed: How do we find candidates who represent the working class? This election shows that those who lead us should be the same people who make our society go.
This column is syndicated by Beacon Media. I grew up tagging along behind my dad at construction sites. He would find a hard hat for me to wear, and...
Democrat Allison Riggs moves closer to victory in NC Supreme Court race
A recount has been ordered, but the 625-vote margin is likely too big for Republican Jefferson Griffin to make up. At the official end of the...
