¹ÏÉñapp

The North Carolina Supreme Court has dismissed a request by the trailing candidate in an close race for a seat on the court to rule now on whether well over 60,000 ballots should be removed from the tally. The justices on Wednesday ordered that the appeals of Republican Jefferson Griffin should be heard by the local trial court, as state law directs how appeals of protests rejected by the State Board of Elections should be handled.

The N.C. Supreme Court is weighing whether to toss out more than 60,000 ballots cast in the race for a seat on that tribunal. That race is the last uncertified statewide contest in the nation.

Republican judicial candidate Jefferson Griffin is looking back to a 2004 statewide election in his efforts to persuade the North Carolina Supreme Court to invalidate more than 60,000 ballots — and reverse his loss — in a race for a seat on that tribunal.

Republican Jefferson Griffin is trying to overturn his election loss by asking the North Carolina Supreme Court to toss 5,500 military and overseas absentee ballots. He used the same method to vote in 2019 and 2020.

While a Republican judicial candidate fights in state and federal courts to invalidate more than 60,000 ballots in his race for a state Supreme Court seat, GOP state lawmakers are in court defending a law that would shift authority over elections in North Carolina from the Democratic governor's office to the GOP state auditor.

The chairman of the Democratic National Committee joined North Carolina's former governor and head of the state's Democratic Party to denounce a Republican candidate's attempts to invalidate more than 60,000 ballots in a tight state Supreme Court race.

A federal appeals court has agreed to hear more arguments involving a close election in November for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday scheduled oral arguments for Jan. 27 and briefing deadlines.

Attorney Craig Schauer, who represents Republican state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin, went before a Wake County judge earlier this week without opposing counsel present to get an order blocking certification of the election. Griffin is trying to have more than 60,000 ballots invalidated in his race to unseat incumbent Democratic state Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs.

One of the high court's conservative justices dissented from an order blocking certification of an election in which a Democratic incumbent justice leads a GOP challenger.

Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin is getting what he wanted: To have the heavily conservative state Supreme Court decide whether to invalidate more than 60,000 ballots and possibly reverse his electoral loss to unseat North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs