The North Carolina State Board of Elections voted Wednesday to deny a GOP challenge that attempted to throw out 60,000 ballots in a state Supreme Court race.
The Democratic incumbent in the race leads by just over 700 votes.
Two recounts have been performed, but neither revealed enough votes for Republican Jefferson Griffin to surpass Democrat Allison Riggs. The elections board, which is led 3-2 by Democrats, could now move to certify the results of the race.
Griffin’s campaign had filed hundreds of legal challenges across the state in their allegations that nearly 60,000 people voted illegally. Their main contention was that these people didn’t have a Social Security number or driver’s license number in their voter registration records.
“These voters were not eligible to cast a ballot without first lawfully registering,” attorneys for Griffin’s campaign wrote in the first brief to North Carolina’s election board.
There were three categories of votes at issue.
The first involved voter registration applications processed two decades ago that were supposed to require people to note their driver’s license or Social Security numbers, but the form didn’t list that requirement. Thousands of voters didn’t include the requirement as a result.
The other two categories involve overseas voters who haven’t lived in North Carolina and those who failed to provide photo identification with their ballot.
All three categories were put to a vote, with the first two falling along party lines. The final measure was rejected unanimously.
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Griffin or the North Carolina Republican Party will likely appeal the decision.
In a statement, North Carolina GOP Chairman Jason Simmons criticized the ruling and said the party would “review the board’s decision and reserve the right to any future actions to protect the integrity of our elections.”
