Around 300 people protested in Asheville on Monday, angry that a judicial candidate and sitting Court of Appeals judge is fighting to have tens of thousands of votes invalidated 鈥� which he hopes will lead him to victory months after the election.
Donna Landis, of Fairview, says she found out her vote in the November state Supreme Court race may not be counted when she got a call from a friend at church recently.
Landis 鈥� one of 60,000 voters entangled in an ongoing legal battle brought by Republican Jefferson Griffin 鈥� says she hasn鈥檛 gotten a clear answer on why her ballot would be challenged.
She鈥檚 voted in every election, she said, since 1980. At the polls last year, Landis said, she showed her driver鈥檚 license to verify her identity and voter registration.
Her husband鈥檚 vote was counted, she said. But now she鈥檚 learned hers may not 鈥� if Griffin鈥檚 legal challenge prevails.
The ongoing legal battle centers on a state Supreme Court seat, up for re-election in 2024. Griffin challenged Democratic incumbent Justice Allison Riggs.
After two recounts, Riggs has than Griffin, WRAL reported. But in December, Griffin alleged that over 60,000 votes across the state should be thrown out due to 鈥渞egistration irregularities鈥� such as 鈥渋ncomplete鈥� voter information.
Common Cause NC, a nonpartisan group, organized rallies in 17 counties across the state, including Monday鈥檚 protest in Pack Square Park.
鈥淭he purpose of this rally is to loudly state that we are angry about this challenge. More importantly, I'm grieving deeply about the implications of these actions,鈥� Landis said.
鈥淚f there was a problem with my information, I would have expected a call or something from the Board of Elections which I did not receive.鈥�
Common Cause NC sponsored Monday鈥檚 rally with including the League of Women Voters, the Poor People鈥檚 Campaign, and the North Carolina Council for Churches.
A similar rally in over the weekend saw around 100 people attend.
North Carolina NC Board of Elections rejected Griffin鈥檚 request to throw out certain ballots in December. Most recently, a Wake County Superior Court judge rejected Griffin鈥檚 move to invalidate the ballots, 瓜神app reported.
As part of the Feb. 7 Superior Court case, the state board鈥檚 legal council has submitted an audit of the ballots to the courts. 瓜神app reported on Sunday that the audit showed 29,972 of the challenged voters provided the requisite identification numbers when they registered.
In other cases, voters whose 2024 ballots are under scrutiny may have properly registered but their files may not show an ID number.
Buncombe County Board of Elections Chair Jake Quinn explained that while voters may have presented part of their social security number or driver鈥檚 license number in the past that might not have been recorded in the database Griffin cites in his legal challenge.
鈥淚t may well be that questions that folks have about this data. We might be able to fix it all to everybody's satisfaction if we could just get some more resources devoted to the process in Raleigh,鈥� Quinn said. 鈥淚 am ever so grateful that the Buncombe Commissioners provide tremendous support to the election process here. And I would just love to see the same occur at the state level.鈥�
One protestor told BPR at Monday鈥檚 rally that she feels the legal challenge over voters like Landis adds to threats against democracy.
鈥淣ow more than ever democracy matters,鈥� said Emmah Fields, a college student. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen in the past eight years a disregard for the constitution.鈥�
鈥淓specially right now, disregarding 60,000 votes because the election didn't go your way I think is a blatant violation of what this country stands for and what democracy means.鈥�
Griffin has appealed to the state Court of Appeals, 瓜神app reported. The court currently has a Republican majority.
Are you on the challenged voter list?
The State Board of Elections provided the following list of challenged voters by county. Within each county listing, voters are alphabetical by last name.
The State Board of Elections suggests anyone with questions .
