OPINION: I’ve voted in 15 elections in NC, but Jefferson Griffin wants to throw my vote out

In an op-ed, one of the 60,000-plus North Carolinians whose votes Jefferson Griffin wants to throw out to overturn his loss calls on him to concede. “It’s time to honor their decision, concede, and reaffirm the integrity of our elections,” Rebecca Schisler writes.

I enthusiastically registered to vote when I turned 18 in 1999, and I was proud to cast my first ballot in the 2000 presidential election while living in Ohio. I have been a registered voter in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, since 2011. The first time I voted in North Carolina was in the 2012 presidential election, and I brought along my then two-year-old daughter. 

As we entered our polling place, I excitedly told her, “We’re going to pick the President!” Her face lit up with a smile, even though she didn’t yet know what a president was.

At the check-in table, I was told by a poll worker that I needed to show my driver’s license to resolve a matter of missing or mismatched information on my voter registration form. I provided my ID, was assured the matter was fixed, and cast my ballot with a toddler on my hip. It wasn’t until we were heading to the car with our “I Voted” stickers that my daughter became upset. It took me a moment to figure out she had misunderstood—she thought we were going to pick a “present,” not a president and a sticker wasn’t quite the present she had in mind.

Since then, I have taken my daughter with me to vote in nearly every election. With each passing year, she has come to understand more deeply that our right to vote truly is as special as a present. But it is not a gift—it is a right, one that our forebears had to fight for, and yet here we are, still fighting.

This past November 5th, my daughter, now 14, and I stood in line together at an election day voting location so I could cast my vote in the general election. I presented my ID, filled out my ballot, and we both walked away confident we were witnessing, firsthand, democracy in action.

A month later, I would learn that my ballot, along with over 60,000 others, was being challenged because Jefferson Griffin– the losing candidate in the state Supreme Court race, according to two recounts—is trying to retroactively change the rules of voter eligibility. Judge Griffin would have me believe that a clerical problem back in 2011 wasn’t actually resolved, despite my being assured it was resolved by precinct officials, despite my voting in 15 subsequent elections, and despite providing my valid ID to vote in November 2024.

Our democracy depends on trust—the trust that every citizen’s vote will be counted, that the rules won’t change after the fact, and that the will of the people will be respected. If we allow losing candidates to undermine fair elections, we weaken the very foundation of our democratic system.

My daughter, and all future voters, deserve to inherit a democracy that values and upholds every citizen’s voice. We also deserve to inherit a judicial system with judges who will uphold their oath to the people by administering justice impartially, without favoritism, and according to the law.

Judge Griffin, the voters have spoken. It’s time to honor their decision, concede, and reaffirm the integrity of our elections.