---
title: "US judge orders North Carolina to certify Democrat winner of court election"
description: "A federal judge ordered North Carolina's election board on Monday to not throw out any ballots cast by voters in November in a close race for a seat on the state's Supreme Court and to certify a sitting Democratic justice's electoral victory."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Newsdeck"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-05-06-us-judge-orders-north-carolina-to-certify-democrat-winner-of-court-election/"
published: "2025-05-06T04:22:02"
updated: "2025-05-06T04:22:04"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 363
---

# US judge orders North Carolina to certify Democrat winner of court election

> A federal judge ordered North Carolina's election board on Monday to not throw out any ballots cast by voters in November in a close race for a seat on the state's Supreme Court and to certify a sitting Democratic justice's electoral victory.

By Reuters · Published 6 May 2025, 06:22 SAST · Updated 6 May 2025, 06:22 SAST

## Key points
- In a dramatic courtroom showdown that could rival a legal thriller, Judge Richard Myers has ruled that Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin can't rewrite election rules post-game, effectively keeping the ballot box Pandora's box tightly closed, at least for now.
- Chief Judge Richard Myers rules against Republican Judge Jefferson Griffin, affirming that election rules cannot be changed retroactively.
- The North Carolina Supreme Court previously rejected Griffin's attempt to discard over 60,000 ballots, impacting a smaller number of overseas voters.
- Myers emphasized that altering election rules post-vote violates voters' equal protection and due process rights under the U.S. Constitution.
- Griffin's campaign is considering an appeal, while Democratic Justice Allison Riggs seeks a full term after her recent appointment.

## Content

Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Myers in Raleigh sided with Justice Allison Riggs as he declared that Judge Jefferson Griffin, a Republican trailing the Democrat by 734 votes, cannot "change the rules of the game after it had been played."

Myers, whom Republican President Donald Trump appointed during his first term, ruled after the North Carolina Supreme Court on April 11 issued an order that put potentially thousands of ballots cast by military and overseas voters into jeopardy.

While the Republican-dominated state top court rejected Griffin's bid to have more than 60,000 ballots thrown out, it said a smaller set by overseas voters he challenged for not providing photo identification as required by state law needed to verify their eligibility within a 30-day period.

While the board said its plan to comply would affect at most 1,675 voters, Griffin contended that several thousand more should be at issue. Riggs urged Myers to prevent what she called an unprecedented legal effort to overturn an election.

Myers said the "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."

He said no, as he concluded that allowing the state supreme court's ruling to take effect would violate the voters' equal protection and due process rights under the U.S. Constitution.

Myers paused his order for seven days so that Griffin could pursue an appeal. Griffin's campaign said his legal team is reviewing and evaluating next steps.

Riggs' campaign had no immediate comment.

Riggs has been vying for a full eight-year term on the high court following her 2023 appointment to the court by Democratic Governor Roy Cooper to fill a vacancy on the seven-member tribunal, whose justices are elected.

Griffin, a member of the North Carolina Court of Appeals, in the immediate hours after polls closed on November 5 had been leading Riggs by nearly 10,000 votes, but that lead dwindled as more ballots were counted. Over 5.5 million ballots were cast.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Leslie Adler)