Opinion: Jefferson Griffin proves he isn’t fit to be on NC’s Supreme Court

With his plea for the NC Supreme Court to overturn his election defeat, Jefferson Griffin and his allies in the Republican Party have resorted to lawlessness to get their way. 

Jefferson Griffin thinks losing an election is a valid excuse to overturn an election. 

And if North Carolina’s high court goes along with his nonsensical plea for them to throw out 60,000 votes cast by people who are probably eligible voters, this state isn’t the democracy we say it is. It’s that simple. 

Griffin sits on NC’s appeals court and he lost this year’s election for state Supreme Court to incumbent Justice Allison Riggs by fewer than 800 votes, a defeat confirmed by multiple recounts. 

Along the way, Griffin’s failed to prove that a single one of the ballots he’s targeting was actually cast by an illegal voter. Among those ballots being contested are the ones cast by his opponent’s own parents.

Now he’s asking the state Supreme Court to toss out tens of thousands of votes mostly because of missing information on their voter registration forms, but missing information doesn’t make a voter ineligible.

Federal law allows for people who didn’t provide that information to vote if they show a valid photo ID, a utility bill, or other authorized document. Folks might also have registered before the 2002 federal law that required states to collect that information, or an election worker might have failed to record it. 

There are many reasons why that information might not be there, but Griffin, whether the voter is a legal voter or not, wants the courts to disenfranchise them because it might help him win.

“This legal argument should be written in crayon. In going along with it, Griffin’s made a more compelling case against him ever gaining a seat on the Supreme Court than his opponent ever could.”

Federal courts, even a Trump-appointed judge, tossed out the same argument in October when Republicans tried to strike 225,000 voters from the rolls in North Carolina. Griffin and his attorneys are, in effect, acting like none of that matters.  

This legal argument should be written in crayon. In going along with it, Griffin’s made a more compelling case against him ever gaining a seat on the Supreme Court than his opponent ever could. 

“Any North Carolinian–or American–who cares about free and fair elections should be deeply troubled by what’s happening in our state,” Embry Owen, campaign director for Riggs, wrote in a statement Thursday. “Political candidates don’t get to silence voters rather than accept an election loss.”

Riggs responded as well:

“I will continue to work to ensure that every valid vote counts in this election,” she said. “These more than 60,000 voters are our neighbors, our friends, our family members, and brave citizens who risk their lives to defend our country. As I’ve already shared, my own parents are on the list.”

At a recent press conference, a local voting rights advocate referred to this as a “nonviolent version of January 6.” But because the current makeup of the NC Supreme Court has shown a penchant for partisan favors—this same court gave Republicans free rein to gerrymander in one infamous 2023 ruling—this plot has a much better chance of succeeding.

But it’s not just about Griffin. Griffin’s challenge, if the Supreme Court goes along with it, could change the outcome of several key state legislative races, including one that allowed Democrats to break Republicans’ supermajority in the legislature. 

“This story is bigger than any one candidate for any office. It’s about democracy being a thing we do, and not just a thing we talk about.”

Elections have consequences, they say. But the Republicans behind Griffin aren’t interested in those. 

There is a black rot at the center of the MAGA movement, and while there may be a scattering of so-called “election deniers” on the left, they’re relegated to the fringe. In the MAGA Republican Party, they run the show. They file cockamamie, 87-page legal briefs like Griffin’s, asking a court to overturn elections they lost. 

NC journalist Bryan Anderson put it this way: “He’s effectively arguing that an elected group of seven justices ought to be the ones deciding the outcome of the election, not the voters.”

Which is why this story is bigger than any one candidate for any office. It’s about democracy being a thing we do, and not just a thing we talk about. 

Griffin lost. Riggs won, just as Donald Trump and Josh Stein won. The 2024 election is over. And anyone, be they Republicans or Democrats or Libertarians or Martians, shouldn’t be able to change that outcome because they’re disappointed or angry. 

If they succeed, it’s time to ask hard questions of North Carolina. For generations, this state denied democracy to many because of their skin color. Griffin’s standing here in 2024 asking North Carolina to deny democracy altogether.