Today, the Republican-led North Carolina Supreme Court blocked the certification of Justice Allison Riggs’ victory in November’s state Supreme Court race, despite two recounts verifying that she fairly won the election. 

In response, DNC Chair Jaime Harrison issued the following statement:

“In what has become a monthslong, anti-democratic campaign at taxpayers’ expense against Justice Allison Riggs – who was found to be the clear winner of North Carolina’s November state Supreme Court election by two separate recounts – the Republican-led North Carolina Supreme Court is now attempting to give itself sole power to decide its next member rather than the North Carolina voters who unquestionably elected Justice Riggs. Make no mistake – these craven attacks on North Carolina voters are an affront to this country’s foundational values of democracy and the rule of law. One day after the four-year anniversary of January 6, Republicans are once again attempting to overturn an election in plain sight.”

North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton released the following statement:

“Justice Allison Riggs won her seat fair and square and that will continue to be demonstrated before the courts. Justice Riggs deserves her certificate of election and we are only in this position due to Jefferson Griffin refusing to accept the will of the people. He is hellbent on finding new ways to overthrow this election but we are confident that the evidence will show, like they did throughout multiple recounts, that she is the rightful winner in this race. The NCDP will continue to fight for justice and ensure that the will of North Carolinians will be heard.”

Despite multiple recounts confirming Justice Riggs’ electoral lead and the state Board of Elections dismissing Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin’s previous protests as “anathema to the democratic system,” Griffin refuses to concede. Now, the Republican-led North Carolina Supreme Court has blocked the certification of Riggs’ election. 

NBC News: “The North Carolina Supreme Court issued an order Tuesday that blocks state officials from certifying the Democratic candidate as the winner of a razor-thin race for the state’s high court.

“In a 5-1 vote, all of the Republicans on the state Supreme court ruled to prevent the North Carolina State Board of Elections from certifying the results of the race, where Democratic Justice Allison Riggs holds a 734-lead over Republican Jefferson Griffin.”

News & Observer: “The State Board of Elections, voting mostly along party lines, agreed with Riggs and dismissed all of Griffin’s protests last week. 

“‘The idea that someone could have been registered to vote, came to vote and then has their vote discarded is anathema to the democratic system and simply cannot be tolerated,’ Board Chair Alan Hirsch, a Democrat, said. …

“The majority of Griffin’s protests revolve not around specific allegations of fraud, but rather legal arguments about voter eligibility which have so far been rejected by state and federal courts.”

Slate: “The North Carolina GOP’s Latest Ploy to Steal a State Supreme Court Seat”

“Griffin argues that some votes shouldn’t count because of voter registration forms that didn’t include a Social Security or state ID number, as federal law requires. But he disregards other provisions of the law that say a voter can also provide an ID number or identifying document when they vote. The state elections board voted unanimously (Republicans and Democrats) to keep these voters on the rolls.

“In fact, a federal judge appointed by President-elect Donald Trump rejected this argument before the election. And he warned that a ruling to bar hundreds of thousands of people from voting, just days before the election, would ‘significantly alter the allocation of power … away from a democratic form of government.’ The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld this decision. …

“The GOP majority on the North Carolina Supreme Court is possibly the most partisan high-court majority in the country. One justice, Phil Berger Jr., has repeatedly heard lawsuits against his father, Senate leader Phil Berger, and ruled in his favor. The chief justice has made multiple contributions to nonjudicial Republican candidates, another flagrant violation of ethics rules. And Justice Tamara Barringer is herself a former GOP legislator. These justices have rubber-stamped the Republican Legislature’s voter suppression, upended early voting to help Trump’s presidential campaign, and legalized gerrymandering—a ruling that handed control of Congress to the GOP in this year’s election.”

This latest anti-democratic ploy from North Carolina Republicans comes less than a month after state Republicans in the legislature passed measures to boost their political power and diminish incoming Democrats’ authority in a bill meant to provide hurricane relief funding to North Carolinians. 

NBC News: “North Carolina GOP lawmakers override veto of bill to strip power from incoming Democratic officials”

“The GOP-led state House of Representatives on Wednesday voted along party lines to override outgoing Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of legislation that is ostensibly geared towards hurricane relief, but also weakens the authority of statewide offices Democrats won in last month’s election, including governor and attorney general.”