Today, the DNC hosted a press call featuring Chair of the Democratic National Committee Jaime Harrison, former North Carolina Democratic Governor Roy Cooper, and Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party Anderson Clayton to call out Republicans’ brazen and anti-democratic campaign to disenfranchise North Carolina voters. The press call detailed how, for months, Republican North Carolina Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin has been unwilling to accept his election defeat to Justice Allison Riggs, as he and the Republican Party have escalated attacks on North Carolina voters in an attempt to throw out eligible ballots and overturn a fair and free election. 

Last week, the DNC intervened in a new Republican Party lawsuit, preventing an emergency order that could have resulted in the immediate deletion of over 60,000 lawfully cast ballots from all North Carolina elections. The DNC will continue to fight back against Republicans’ anti-democratic attacks and ensure North Carolinians’ voices are heard.  

Find highlights from the call below:

“As a Party, our responsibility is to the voters – not a politician. From the halls of Congress to the steps of North Carolina’s Supreme Court, the DNC will continue to honor and protect the sacred rights of American voters. We’ll show up on the ground and in the courts to fight like hell for Americans’ rights, welfare, and future,” said Chair of the Democratic National Committee Jaime Harrison. “As Donald Trump prepares to take office and Republicans at every level of government escalate their attacks on the American people, that commitment from us is more important than ever. We will ensure that the voices of North Carolinians and voices of voters across this country are heard and continue to work with our in-state partners like Governor Cooper and Chair Clayton because North Carolinians have a fundamental right to have their voices heard. ”

“The eyes of the entire country are on this race because the implications of having free and fair elections that are being questioned and potentially overturned are devastating, not just for Justice Riggs and the millions of North Carolinians who voted for her but for any election in the future,” said former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. “If they are successful in this scheme, there will be copycat lawsuits across this country for races where they don’t like the result. If Republicans are successful in invalidating fair and legal votes past the election date like this, this will have broad implications across the county. And if they’re successful with this, this is what will happen: Voters in North Carolina will be unable to walk out of a voting booth ever again and feel confident that their vote will count. And second, this extreme Republican scheme will be used across the country in a playbook to cherry-pick votes and tilt elections in their favor, regardless of the results. What happens in states like North Carolina doesn’t just stay in North Carolina. We’ll see losing candidates across the country trying to use this strategy.”

“It’s truly terrifying right now that in 2025, we’re in a position where a candidate could possibly succeed in tossing out ballots and rejecting democracy … we need to respect the voters’ will in this election. This time it’s 60,000 ballots, next time it’s 100,000 ballots, and then it’s 250,000 ballots until no ballots get counted,” said Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party Anderson Clayton. “This playbook is not new to our state, but it is one that Republicans will take and make a national playbook if they’re able to succeed here, and we must sound the alarms of them trying to defy democracy in the South and in particular, this race.”