RIGGS-GRIFFIN, NEW GOP
ELECTION BOARD, OPEN
DOOR TO MORE POST
ELECTION CONTROVERSIES
By Cash Michaels
An analysis
Now that the Nov. 2024 state Supreme Court race between NC Supreme Court Justice, Democrat Allison Riggs, and Republican NC Appellate Court Judge Jefferson Griffin has been finally decided, with Griffin conceding after a Trump-appointed federal judge decided in Justice Riggs’ favor, how does this six month episode affect elections going forward, especially with the North Carolina appellate court allowing Republicans to take charge of the state Board of Elections for the immediate future?
Conservative U.S. District Court Judge Richard Myers was clear about why he ruled in Justice Riggs’ favor:
“This case concerns whether the federal Constitution permits a state to alter the rules of an election after the fact and apply those changes retroactively to only a select group of voters, and in so doing treat those voters differently than other similarly situated individuals. This case is also about whether a state may redefine its class of eligible voters but offer no process to those who may have been misclassified as ineligible.”
Even though Judge Griffin lost his six-month election challenge to have over 60,000 votes of the over 5 million cast thrown out, he didn’t lose it by much. At each juncture after the November 2024 general elections were recounted, and recounted again, Griffin could count on a Republican majority judicial body to rule in his favor, from his colleagues on the state Court of Appeals, to the NC Supreme Court.
In each case, those GOP controlled judicial bodies agreed with Griffin to throw out a number of specific votes post election in hopes that doing so would ultimately hand him victory in the race for Democrat Justice Riggs’ state Supreme Court seat.
Political observers became increasingly appalled with the Republican judges who ruled in Griffin’s favor.
“The damage to future North Carolina elections has already been done,” wrote reporter Bryan Anderson, who added that there’s “…little incentive for candidates to concede defeat in close elections going forward.”
“There’s now also precedent for wrongly challenging voters who followed all rules in place at the time of an election and leaving them without any means to address concerns with their ballots.”
“We have a state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals willing to consider anti-democratic measures to alter the outcome of elections after the fact,” opined Politics NC commentator Thomas Mills. “North Carolina will almost certainly see challenges in the future that undermine democracy. With Republicans now in control of the Board of Elections in North Carolina, the concept of free and fair elections is at dire risk.”
Mills warned that the Riggs-Griffin aftermath, coupled with the GOP control of the state Board of Elections, sets up a situation where we can “…expect the GOP to look for more creative ways to steal elections because now that’s becoming the norm. The courts have brought shame on themselves and eroded their credibility. They are now seen as partisan instruments, not impartial observers.”
Democrats now see the Riggs-Griffin post-election fiasco as a template for Republicans across the country to follow.
The NC Republican Party, on the other hand, twisted the Riggs-Griffin as “Judge Griffin deserves the appreciation of every North Carolinian for highlighting the appalling mismanagement, inaccurate data, and partisan behavior from the prior State Board of Elections.”
So how do these events affect Black voters?
NCCU law Prof. Irving Joyner warned even before the Riggs-Griffin contest was settled that, “ African Americans should be deeply troubled and fearful of the latest attempts by Right-Wing Republicans to grab power and destroy constitutionally protected voter rights in North Carolina. The attack on voting rights has been a prime target of Right Winger since the Republican take-over of the General Assembly in 2010. That political power grab has resulted in almost total control of the General Assembly and the capture of the Judicial Branch of Government. These Right-Wingers are brazen in their bold efforts to gain total control of North Carolina government and the destruction of African Americans’ political power and participation is its principle target.
Prof. Joyner added, “How can the new Republican control of voting impact African Americans? Let me count the ways?”
“I expect the new Board of Elections to make it easier to challenge acceptable IDs at polling sites, change rules relating to the registration process, restrict who can be poll workers and the assistance that those individuals can provide at polling sites, eliminate “Souls to the Polls,” increase scrutiny of college student registration, change the locations of Early Voting and general voting sites, increase the difficulty for absentee, mail-in and disability voting, increasing voter purges and engage in a number of other ways to make the voting process more onerous. They can also alter the burden of voting challenges, the type of evidence which might be presented and how open the challenge process will be. They will certainly change the make-up of the staff, the membership of county boards of election, how voter and candidate challenges will be conducted and determined at the county level. Going forward, we will have to be more aggressive in monitoring and challenging what happens in the voting process and will need much more citizen participation in overseeing what those boards are doing.”
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ADAMS CO-INTRODUCES
BILL TO PROTECT LAND-
GRANT HBCU’s
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
North Carolina Congresswoman Alma Adams (D-NC-12) co-introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 9th titled the Land-Grant Institution Parity Act. The goal of this measure is to protect federal funding of land-grant colleges and universities, especially 19 land-grant historically black colleges and universities, which are also commonly referred to as “1890 institutions.”
“The Land-Grant Institution Parity Act is an important step to protect funding for our land-grant HBCUs and build equity in higher education,” said Congresswoman Adams. “1890 Institutions have always punched above their weight and provided outsized benefits to their students, their research, and their communities. They know how to do more with less, but they shouldn’t have to. It’s time we ensure these institutions of excellence always receive the funding they deserve.”
Congresswoman Shomari C. Figures (D-AL-02) is a co-sponsor of the legislation.
“Earlier this year, the Trump Administration suspended funding for historically Black land-grant colleges, but did not pause the same funding for the predominately white land-grant institutions,” said Rep. Figures. “That is simply wrong, and that decision sent a clear message about the vulnerability of programs designed to uplift underserved communities. Under this bill, funding for land-grant institutions will be treated equally and funds cannot be paused, cut, or eliminated without congressional approval. I’m committed to protecting our HBCUs and the students that they serve.”
Under the proposed law, “…federal officials are prohibited from reducing, eliminating, or suspending funding for 1890 Institutions without authorization from Congress. This bill aims to ensure long-term stability and equity for land-grant HBCUs and other land-grant universities serving underserved communities.”
Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC-04) is also a co-sponsor of the measure.
Congresswoman Adams is founder and co-chair of the Bipartisan, Bicameral Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Caucus.
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