NC high court blocks ruling on undecided race

North Carolina’s Supreme Court on Monday temporarily blocked a ruling on an undecided court race.

In a Monday order, the Tar Heel State’s highest court temporarily stayed a previous ruling from a panel of the state appeals court to carry out a recount and verification of 60,000 contested ballots in a North Carolina state Supreme Court race.

Attorneys for Democratic Justice Allison Riggs, already on the North Carolina Supreme Court, filed a motion Sunday asking for a temporary stay on the appeals court’s order being carried out. Riggs is being challenged for her seat by Republican state Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin, who has pushed against the validity of some ballots in the race for multiple reasons.

“The monumental decision of the Court of Appeals in this case raises multiple issues of first impression and will have implications for North Carolinians' fundamental right to vote in this election and for decades to come,” Riggs’s attorneys said in the Sunday motion.

In multiple past recounts, Riggs has come out ahead, but her opponent has said that the 60,000 ballots are not valid because they lack information such as driver's license or Social Security numbers.

“The Supreme Court issued a stay in Jefferson Griffin v. the Board of Elections. Last week the Court of Appeals ruled that voters would have to re-prove their voter registration in order for their vote to be counted,” the North Carolina Democratic Party posted Monday on the social platform X. 

“Now, that decision will not go into effect until after the Supreme Court hears the case - and it may not go into effect at all until after the Supreme Court and subsequent appeals in federal court are finished,” the post continued. “The North Carolina Democratic Party is standing squarely behind Justice Riggs—and behind every single voter whose rights are under attack. We will continue fighting in court and in every community across the state to defend our democracy.”

In his own Monday post on X, North Carolina Republican Party Chair Jason Simmons said, “Judge Griffin's protests have been vindicated and the people of our state deserve to see this important election finalized with every legal vote counted.”

The Hill has reached out to an attorney for Griffin for comment.