ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Do you know what The Griffin List is or if your name is on it?
North Carolina has been caught up in a months-long legal drama involving a state Supreme Court race between Republican Jefferson Griffin and Democrat Allison Riggs.
A North Carolina court of appeals decision released Friday could unseat Riggs, who leads Griffin by 734 votes after two recounts in a race in which more than 5.5 million ballots were cast.
On Monday, the state Supreme Court issued a stay in case after Riggs and the North Carolina State Board of Elections appealed the ruling, the North Carolina Democratic Party said in a social media post. Now, the appeals court decision will not go into effect until after the state Supreme Court hears the case.
Background
The race has undergone multiple recounts and legal challenges by Griffin.
After the November 2024 election, Griffin requested a machine recount because of the tight margin. That recount and a partial hand recount confirmed Riggs leading by 734 votes.
Following the original count after Election Day, Griffin’s team filed hundreds of legal challenges, alleging more than 65,000 people voted illegally. Many of the allegations centered on people Griffin’s lawyers argued didn’t have a driver’s license or Social Security number in their voter registration records. The other contested ballots involved voters who had never lived in the United States.
These protests were initially addressed by the North Carolina State Board of Elections and county boards, which dismissed the majority of them, upholding Riggs’ win.
Griffin appealed to the North Carolina Court of Appeals, arguing the NCSBE improperly counted votes. Griffin, who currently serves on the court of appeals, recused himself from the case, leaving his colleagues to rule on the arguments.
On Friday, April 4, 2025, in a 2-1 ruling, the appeals court sided with Griffin, stating more than 65,000 voters must verify their eligibility.
This appeal does not affect voters’ selections in any other contest on the ballot, Buncombe County officials said.
The decision
Griffin’s protest challenged more than 65,000 ballots across three categories. In two categories, voters can still salvage their ballots by submitting the required information — driver’s license or Social Security number. In the third category — ballots cast by overseas voters who have never lived in the U.S. — the appeals court ruled those votes should not count.
Lawyers for Riggs and the state Board of Elections have said the challenged ballots were lawfully cast and state laws and rules can’t be altered retroactively.
The dissenting judge, a Democrat, said Griffin hadn’t identified a single voter who was ineligible to vote in the November elections under the laws and rules governing the election.
If Riggs’ appeal to the state Supreme Court fails, she could take the case to federal court.
The list
The Republican majority on a North Carolina appellate panel that sided with Griffin gave voters 15 business days to verify their eligibility.
The ruling sparked public outcry and a website — The Griffin List — to let voters search for their names and explain how to update their voter files and ensure their votes count.
According to the list, there are 2,673 entries from Buncombe County
“No one is claiming fraud. No one is claiming double voting. The NC Board of Elections confirmed these were real voters with valid IDs. This is textbook voter suppression,” one person said in a Facebook post about the list.
“If you haven’t verified your vote, please do. Griffin is trying to steal the election by any means. Stop the steal! Confirm that your vote isn’t in question,” another said.
What’s next?
The Buncombe County Board of Elections, along with all 100 county boards of elections, are being represented by the NC State Board of Elections regarding the Griffin protest.
According to the NCSBE, the appeals court’s decision may require the county boards of elections to contact voters whose voter registration forms did not include a driver’s license number or last four digits of a Social Security number and allow those voters to provide that information to their county board of elections to ensure their votes for the supreme court contest count.
The court’s decision may also require the county boards of elections to contact military and overseas voters who used absentee ballots to provide a copy of their photo identification to ensure their votes for the supreme court contest count.
All that has been put on hold until after the state Supreme Court hears the case.
“If the court’s decision does go into effect, the State Board of Elections will provide instructions to affected voters on how to comply with the court’s decision,” the NCSBE said.
In the meantime, any voter concerned their voter registration information may be incomplete or out of date should submit an updated voter registration form. Submitting an updated voter registration form is easy. Any voter who has a license from the DMV can go to payments.ncdot.gov to fill out a voter registration application. If you’re already registered, submitting this information will merely update your existing voter registration. You don’t need to create a special account with the DMV. You can select “Continue as Guest” on the DMV’s website and proceed directly to submitting your voter registration.”
Folks can find contact information for the Buncombe County elections office at buncombecounty.org/vote.