For Immediate Release: Tuesday, April 8, 2025
Full statement below from: Action NC, Association of Mexicans in North Carolina (AMEXCAN), Carolina Jews for Justice, Common Cause North Carolina, Democracy North Carolina, Emancipate NC, Forward Justice, League of Women Voters NC, NAACP North Carolina State Conference, NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, NC Counts Coalition, NC Environmental Justice Network, NC League of Conservation Voters, NextGen America, North Carolina Asian Americans Together, North Carolina Black Alliance, North Carolina For The People, Pro-Choice North Carolina, Protect Democracy, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, The Freedom Center for Social Justice, Tranzmission, Inc, Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry of North Carolina.
Over 65,000 North Carolina voters who followed all election rules in place on Election Day now face the prospect of having their voices silenced due to an unprecedented court ruling. On April 4, 2025, a North Carolina appeals court ruled in favor of Judge Jefferson Griffin's challenge to the 2024 state Supreme Court election results, targeting ballots disproportionately cast by Black, Asian American & Pacific Islander, military, and young adult voters ages 18 to 25, ordering a so-called “cure process,” which has not started.
While the North Carolina Supreme Court issued a stay of this ruling on April 7, 2025, and could overrule the lower court’s reckless decision, if allowed to stand, the Court of Appeals order would set a dangerous precedent, allowing legal and eligible votes to be tossed out based on new rules created months after the election concluded–when voters followed all of the rules in place on Election Day–and on technicalities or perceived errors in the process that were outside voters’ control.
Make no mistake: Griffin’s continued challenge to North Carolina voters is a baseless insult to voters who did nothing wrong. His opponent, Justice Allison Riggs, won the State Supreme Court race, a win that has been repeatedly confirmed by bipartisan election officials, an official statewide canvass, and re-confirmed both by a statewide machine recount and a partial hand-to-eye recount. Griffin’s appeals, which aim to rewrite election rules after the election has happened, are unprecedented and offensive to voters and to the very notion of popular sovereignty–the people should choose their leaders, not courts with post-hoc rewrites of our election laws.
This ruling sets a dangerous blueprint for how future losing candidates can subvert the will of the people.
Our statewide coalition will exhaust every option to defend impacted voters who Griffin’s unconstitutional power grab has disproportionately challenged. We encourage impacted voters, or those who think their vote might be challenged, to:
- Use the Griffin look-up tool to determine whether your vote–or the votes of your family, friends, or neighbors–is on the 65,000+ voter challenge list;
- Use the State Board of Elections voter look-up tool to contact your county board and alert them of your challenged status. You can ask how to update your voter registration and learn about your challenged vote. Updating your registration at this time may not satisfy any future cure process;
- Text or call the voter assistance hotline 888-OUR-VOTE (888-687-8683) to speak with an election expert.
Safeguarding our democracy requires committing to the principle that state courts serve as neutral arbiters of law, particularly in matters concerning the fundamental freedom to vote. When citizens perceive that their votes may be invalidated through politically-motivated judicial decisions, it creates distrust in both the judiciary and the electoral process itself.
Only through true judicial independence can we ensure every eligible citizen's vote is counted and respected in North Carolina, and across our country. The legitimacy of our democracy depends on it.
Signed
Association of Mexicans in North Carolina (AMEXCAN)
NAACP North Carolina State Conference
NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
NC Environmental Justice Network
NC League of Conservation Voters
North Carolina Asian Americans Together
Southern Coalition for Social Justice
