NC Supremes Drag Allison Riggs

 

Okay, a thing happened last Wednesday at the NC Supreme Court that I kind of ignored even though the headline writers opted for calling it a defeat for Jefferson Griffin (who's been trying to purloin a Supreme Court seat for himself. Where have you been?), but the Court's refusal to grant Griffin an order to fast-track throwing out legal and legitimate votes incrementally until he can achieve the desired majority over Allison Riggs -- the Court's denial of Griffin was accompanied by a refusal to lift the stay preventing certification of the race by the State Board of Elections. The Court is throwing the case back for trial to the lower courts -- first Superior, then Court of Appeals, and thence, finally, to Paul Newby's coven of partisans for the ultimate decision: Shall we continue to have Allison Riggs on the Court, or will Jefferson Griffin succeed in undermining the democratic rule of law and eternally besmirch the Court?

In other words, maybe they can just keep Riggs off by dragging out the process for years.

Jeffrey Billman published in The Assembly an intense unpacking of the stuff that the judges wrote in their unanimous decision to deny Griffin's fast-track scheme -- all five Republican judges and Anita Earls, the lone Democrat, wrote their own opinions. Earls dissented on the refusal to lift the stay on declaring a winner. Earls, who gets under Newby's skin faster than any chigger, points out in her opinion that under state law (Billings includes a link) leaving a temporary stay in place for a trial indicates that “the petitioner is likely to prevail” -- kind of a dead give-away that her Republican colleagues are sending a message to the lower courts of their desired outcome.

Newby flashed his conspiratorial backside in his concurring opinion, according to Billings, called it “highly unusual” that Griffin was ahead on election night but fell behind when all the votes were counted. "It’s unclear whether Newby meant to raise the possibility of fraud or vote-counting improprieties—which Griffin has not alleged—but it’s not unusual for late absentee and provisional ballots to shift leads in close elections."

Newby’s comments “show a complete lack of understanding of how elections are conducted,” said Gerry Cohen, a Wake County Board of Elections member and former General Assembly special counsel. [Cohen is the authority on NC election law, since he helped draft most of it.]

Billings draws attention to why last Wednesday's decision doesn't look like any kind of victory for Riggs:

Newby also chided Griffin’s critics for accusing him of trying to “disenfranchise” voters. He called Griffin’s complaints “valid” and said they “may affect the outcome of the election.” Barringer and Justice Phil Berger Jr. cosigned.

That's some kind of a signal, no?

But wait! Parallel but separate legal action is also proceeding in the Federal system. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has been petitioned by Riggs to take the case away from the state on the basis that Griffin's request would retroactively disenfranchise voters and thereby "violate numerous federal civil rights laws,” including the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. Oral arguments in this case begin tomorrow.