(The Center Square) – Pending appeals of protests, Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs has defeated Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin and retained her seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court.
The State Board of Elections on Wednesday certified vote totals in four races that drew protests. In an email to The Center Square, board Public Information Director Patrick Gannon wrote, “Certificates of election cannot be issued until all of the protests are resolved.”
The panel met on Wednesday and ruled in a series of votes to dismiss the protests involving an estimated 60,000 votes.
Riggs’ win is by 734 of 5,540,090 cast. On Election Night, with 2,658 precincts reporting, Griffin led by 9,851. Provisional and absentee ballots that qualified were added to the totals, swinging the race by 10,585 votes.
The request for a recusal of board member Siobhan Millan, whose husband is an attorney in the firm representing Riggs, was dismissed by Chairman Alan Hirsch and she participated in discussions and votes.
The board voted 3-2 – all Democrats for, no Republicans for – against a formal hearing on votes involving lack of driver’s licenses or partial Social Security numbers; and 3-2 against probable cause to proceed for votes of people never having lived in the United States but with parents called North Carolina residents. The board was unanimously against the protest of no photo identification copies for overseas and military voters.
Riggs has declared her first judicial victory multiple times. The 14-year veteran of arguing cases and serving as an executive director for voting rights at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice was appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper first to the state Court of Appeals and nine months later to the state Supreme Court.
Riggs’ win would keep the seven-member bench at five Republicans and two Democrats. The terms are eight years each.
Three legislative races were also in the protests. Democrat Bryan Cohn will unseat Rep. Frank Sossamon and leave the state House of Representatives majority at 71-49 for Republicans.
In addition to Griffin and Sossamon, protests were also filed by Republicans Ashlee Adams and Stacie McGinn. Cohn defeated Sossamon by 228 votes of 42,202 cast for House District 32 seat; Woodson Bradley defeated McGinn by 209 votes of 124,311 cast for Senate District 42; and Terence Everitt defeated Adams by 128 votes of 119,206 cast for Senate District 18.
On Tuesday, the state board said it had completed the partial hand-eye recount in the Riggs-Griffin race and a full recount would not be ordered based on results. In the 3% sample of all 100 counties, Riggs’ lead slightly increased.
Also Tuesday, a state Court of Appeals three-judge panel declined a request from Griffin asking for a state board decision before Wednesday’s meeting.
