Republican concedes long-unsettled North Carolina court election to Democratic incumbent

By GARY D ROBERTSON RALEIGH N C AP The Republican challenger for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat conceded last November s electoral process on Wednesday to Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs two days after a federal judge ruled that potentially thousands of disputed ballots challenged by Jefferson Griffin must remain in the final tally Related Articles The more Trump talks about making pact deals the more confusing the tariff picture gets Federal judge orders Trump administration to unblock pandemic relief money for schools House Republicans push to sell thousands of acres of general lands in the West America s legal system is confusing Here are several of the common terms used in the Trump lawsuits Lawmakers seek to rein in citizen ballot initiatives with new requirements for petitions In a message provided by his campaign to The Associated Press Griffin stated he would not appeal Monday s decision by U S District Judge Richard Myers who also ordered that the State Board of Elections certify results that show Riggs is the winner by votes from over million ballots cast in the race Griffin s decision sets the stage for Riggs to be officially elected to an eight-year term as an associate justice While I do not fully agree with the District Court s analysis I respect the court s holding just as I have respected every judicial tribunal that has heard this situation Griffin disclosed I will not appeal the court s decision Myers delayed carrying out his order for seven days in scenario Griffin yearned to ask the th U S Circuit Court of Appeals to review his decision Democrats meanwhile had called on Griffin to accept defeat Riggs is one of two Democrats on the seven-member state Supreme Court and winning improved the party s efforts to retake a court majority later in the decade Griffin is a state Court of Appeals judge whose term ends in I wish my opponent the best and will continue to pray for her and all the members of our court system here in North Carolina I look forward to continuing to serve the people of North Carolina Griffin reported While the Associated Press declared over winners in the general electoral contest the North Carolina Supreme Court voting process was the last race nationally that was undecided Riggs mentioned in a news release Wednesday that she was glad the will of the voters was definitively heard It s been my honor to lead this fight even though it should never have happened and I m in awe of the North Carolinians whose courage reminds us all that we can use our voices to hold accountable any politician who seeks to take power out of the hands of the people she announced Myers ruled that Griffin s efforts after the Nov vote to remove from the voting process total ballots that state appeals courts agreed were ineligible under state law would have damaged federal due process or equal protection rights of affected voters had they been implemented A protester listens to speeches during a rally for Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs in Raleigh N C on Monday April AP Photo Makiya Seminera Griffin filed formal protests that initially appeared to cover more than ballots Ensuing state court rulings whittled the total to votes from two categories covering from as sparse as ballots to as multiple as according to court filings Griffin hoped that removing ballots he stated were unlawfully cast would flip the outcome to him Democrats and voting rights groups had raised alarm about Griffin s efforts which in one category of ballots had only targeted six Democratic-leaning counties They called it an attack on democracy that would serve as a road map for the GOP to reverse poll results in other states Griffin announced Wednesday that his legal efforts were dependably about upholding the rule of law and making sure that every legal vote in an electoral contest is counted Majority of of the ballots that state appeals courts exposed ineligible came from military or overseas voters who didn t provide copies of photo identification or an ID exception form with their absentee ballots The appeals courts had permitted a -day cure process for those voters so their ballots could still count if they provided ID information Myers who was nominated to the bench by President Donald Trump agreed with Riggs and her allied litigants that the retroactive invalidation of those ballots violated the rights of arrangement members missionaries or others working or studying abroad who cast their ballots under the rules for the vote You establish the rules before the meeting You don t change them after the battle is done Myers wrote in his order The other category of ballots was cast by overseas voters who have never lived in the U S but whose parents were declared North Carolina residents A state law had authorized those people to vote in state elections but state appeals courts explained it violated the state Constitution Myers wrote that there was no process for people mistakenly on the list to contest their ineligibility representing an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote Griffin mentioned Wednesday the rulings of state appeals judges still recognized that the state balloting board failed to follow laws and the state constitution These holdings are very major for securing our state s elections he mentioned