NC Supreme Court update: Riggs rallies supporters, overseas voters file new lawsuit

Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs promised at a Monday morning rally that she would fight for service members who may have to meet new conditions for their votes to count. 

“Those who raised their hand and got first in line to serve their county should not now be first in line to have their votes tossed,” Riggs told the crowd. 

On Friday, the state Supreme Court ordered that thousands of military and overseas absentee voters must submit a photo ID within 30 days of getting a notice. If they don’t, their votes in last fall’s state Supreme Court race will be trashed. 

Republican Appeals Court Judge Jefferson Griffin sued the state Board of Elections seeking to erase votes from service people and civilians living overseas that were cast in four heavily Democratic counties. It was part of Griffin’s larger effort to invalidate votes in the race where Riggs, a Democrat, is ahead. 

Most military and overseas absentee voters use a special electronic portal to cast their ballots,  a method that does not allow them to submit additional documents.

The state Board of Elections had told military and overseas voters they did not need to provide a photo ID. With the court ruling, elections officials would have to collect those photos from voters. 

Riggs asked a federal court judge to freeze action in the case. But District Judge Richard Myers told the state Board of Elections to prepare to act on the state court’s instructions while barring the board from declaring a winner.

Separately, a federal lawsuit filed Monday morning in federal court on behalf of overseas voters seeks to prevent the state Board of Elections from requiring them to supply photo ID. 

Named plaintiffs include Carrie Conley, a military spouse who maintained a legal voting residence in Guilford County and voted from Italy using the online portal. According to the court filing, she found out her vote was being challenged while the vote of a neighbor who maintains a Cumberland County voting residence was not challenged. 

Lockhart Webb was living in Switzerland when she voted and found out on April 5 she was on Griffin’s challenge list, according to the court filing. She fears she won’t receive notification of steps she would have to take based on new rules because she and her husband are in the process of returning to North Carolina and won’t have a fixed address. 

Ella Kromm, a Durham resident who voted while teaching in Spain, is also a plaintiff.

The Board of Elections “cure” process selectively imposes additional burdens on some voters and not others, the lawsuit said. 

“Presumptively invalidating votes cast by eligible, qualified voters who complied with all rules and requirements in place at the time of the 2024 elections—and then requiring those voters to jump through additional hoops months after the election to have their ballots counted equally in deciding the Seat Six race—is fundamentally unfair, unduly burdensome, and wholly arbitrary,” the suit said. 

At the rally, state Senator Val Applewhite, a 20-year Air Force veteran, said Republicans are disrespecting military voters. 

“You ask for fairness,  you ask for respect. And above all, you expect for your vote to count,” she said. “Today, we’re watching Republican politicians try to silence the very people who fight for our democracy.”