NC HIGH COURT RULING KEEPS
RIGGS-GRIFFIN ELECTION CASE
ALIVE FOR ANOTHER 30 DAYS
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Republican state Appellate Court Judge Jefferson Griffin didn’t win, but he didn’t lose either…yet.
Last week’s 4-2 decision by the NC Supreme Court in the only ongoing and undecided November 2024 election case in the country, effectively protected over 60,000 votes cast in the race for Justice Allison Riggs’ high court seat, but the decision also questioned the legitimacy of thousands of other votes that Judge Griffin challenged.
After the election, Griffin lost by 734 votes in two recounts, so he legally challenged the legitimacy of over 60,000 votes, claiming that they were ineligible to be counted due to NC Board of Elections administrative errors.
A three-judge panel of NC Court of Appeals ultimately agreed, but the Republican-led NC Supreme Court stayed that order until it could review the case.
Subsequently, the state Supreme Court ruled that 60,000 plus votes cast by North Carolinians were legitimate, but the votes cast by North Carolina military personnel not living in the state, and North Carolinians not living here but voted by absentee ballot, will not be officially counted towards the final total until they prove their eligibility within 30 days.
Voters who have never lived in North Carolina or the United States, but have ties to the state through their parents, will not have their votes in the Riggs-Griffin race counted.
Justice Riggs, one of two Democrats on the seven-member state Supreme Court, recused herself from voting in the decision.
The result of that process could turn the tide in Democrat Justice Riggs’ 734-vote uncertified victory over Republican Griffin. If enough overseas and military voters cannot prove their eligibility, that might swing the winning margin over to Judge Griffin.
For their part, Justice Riggs, the national and North Carolina party, aren’t taking that possibility lying down.
Making a keynote address at North Carolina Central University’s School of Law on Saturday, Justice Riggs, referring to the thousands of overseas votes now endangered of being discounted from the 5.2 million counted in her race against Judge Griffin vowed, “With every breath in my body, I will fight for them to make sure that their votes count.”
Justice Riggs continued, “We know that the voters who are at risk of having their fundamental freedoms disrespected are the people who put on a uniform and stand up and serve our country.”
Riggs has vowed to take her fight now to federal court.
Democrats both with the NC Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee charge that what is happening in North Carolina now can and will be replicated by Republicans across the country in attempts to steal elections that have been already decided.
“North Carolina Democrats will be fighting this decision in federal court and we will use every tool at our disposal to uphold the voters’ rights and the voters’ will. Justice Allison Riggs won her seat. She is the Justice North Carolina elected and the Justice North Carolina deserves,” the NCDP said in a statement.
“It is no small thing to overturn the results of an election in a democracy by throwing out ballots that were legally cast consistent with all election laws in effect on the day of the election. Some would call it stealing the election, others might call it a bloodless coup, but by whatever name, no amount of smoke and mirrors makes it legitimate,” said Democratic Justice Anita Earls in her dissent.
“The men and women serving in our military will not allow their voices to be silenced by a desperate loser like Griffin. The nation is watching North Carolina. Meanwhile, the DNC and Democrats across this country stand ready to marshal resources and manpower to ensure every vote cast in this election is counted. The people’s voices will be heard and Justice Allison Riggs will take her rightful place on the North Carolina Supreme Court,” said DNC Chairman Ken Martin in a statement.
The NC Republican Party issued a statement praising the high court’s decision as bringing the nation “…one step closer to a conclusion ensuring every legal vote will be counted.”
An analysis has shown that the ballots cast by black voters in the Riggs-Griffin election were twice as likely to have been challenged than their white counterparts.
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FORMER WARRENTON POLICE
OFFICER UNDER FEDERAL
INDICTMENT FOR ABUSE
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
A former officer with the Warrenton Police Department is now under federal indictment for “repeatedly using excessive force on people who weren’t resisting arrest.
Mark Oakley, the former officer who was fired from his job in March, 2024, is charged with three counts of depriving people of their constitutional rights by using excessive force. The investigation into Oakley’s alleged actions focused on his misuse of his Taser in at least three separate incidents.
A Taser is a nonlethal law enforcement weapon that can be used by police officers in lieu of their firearms on suspects during the course of an arrest if the suspect is displaying resistance. The Taser shoots probes attached to wires that strike the suspect, emitting an electric shock that stuns the resisting suspect.
Police departments maintain Tasers, in certain situations where the resisting suspect is unarmed and poses a threat to others or himself, can be a vital, nonlethal tool.
But that doesn’t mean it can’t be misused.
Authorities in Warren County began investigating Officer Oakley in January 2024 when the district attorney there called in the SBI to probe complaints about his actions.
The investigating SBI agent secured three bodycam videos supporting allegations against Oakley, according to an affidavit
The April 2 federal indictment alleged Oakley, while a Warrenton police officer, used his Taser on a handcuffed suspect in the back of a patrol car “without justification.”
In a second incident, Officer Oakley used a Taser on a man who was standing still with one arm raised, then again while the man was lying on the ground with his hands behind his back, according to the federal indictment.
And in a third alleged incident, Officer Oakley deployed his Taser twice on a female who allegedly did not pose a threat, but did refuse to exit her car. He then also Tasered the woman while she was lying on the ground, according to the federal indictment.
Reportedly, Mark Oakley is now a part-time police officer in Littleton.
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