Angela and Stephen Rogers of 麻豆传媒 say they don鈥檛 follow politics much but do vote in presidential elections years. 鈥淲e showed our driver鈥檚 license and voted early,鈥 Angela tells me in a joint phone call with her husband. 鈥淓verything went fine.鈥
They are surprised when I explain a losing candidate wants to throw out both of their ballots in a last-ditch effort to win a seat on the N.C. Supreme Court. 鈥淭hat doesn鈥檛 seem fair,鈥 Angela says. 鈥淲e voted and it ought to count,鈥 adds Stephen.
The candidate, Republican Jefferson Griffin, insists the Rogers鈥 votes are not valid and should not count.
Out of 5.5 million ballots cast in this year鈥檚 state Supreme Court election, Griffin is trailing Democrat Allison Riggs by 734 votes 鈥 about one vote for each village and town in North Carolina. (Don鈥檛 ever say your one vote doesn鈥檛 matter.)
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Two recounts confirm Griffin鈥檚 loss. In desperation, he is now trying to disqualify 60,000 voters, even though they followed the rules and were told their ballot counted.
鈥淭hat makes no sense. My vote was legitimate,鈥 emphasizes Terry Bentley of Hickory who is one of the 60,000. 鈥淭hey looked at my driver鈥檚 license and verified my address. I didn鈥檛 do nothing wrong.鈥
Nevertheless, Griffin says ballots cast by Bentley, Angela and Stephen Rogers, and the other voters on his list are illegal because their original registration records do not include a Social Security or N.C. driver鈥檚 license identity number.
Catherine Reed calls Griffin鈥檚 claim that she voted illegally 鈥渟hameful.鈥 Lawrence McKenzie, a disabled veteran, calls it 鈥渋nsulting.鈥
Griffin is basing his claim on federal and state laws that say voter registrations are not valid unless they include a Social Security or state identity number. But other parts of those laws say a person with a deficient registration can provide an identity number or identifying document when they vote.
In fact, everyone had to provide a state-approved ID when they voted this year. In addition, a federal judge appointed by Donald Trump has ruled that the dispute over registration records without an identity number should not affect any North Carolina voter in the 2024 election.
Nevertheless, Griffin still wants to disenfranchise the 60,000 voters on his list. About 2,200 of them live in Catawba, Burke, McDowell, Caldwell, Iredell and Alexander counties.
Leona Harrison of Statesville describes herself as an active voter. She can鈥檛 believe someone could cancel her registration over a technicality. 鈥淲ow, that鈥檚 not right,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 want my voice to be heard.鈥
Harrison exemplifies the significant tilt of Griffin鈥檚 statewide list 鈥 she is a Black woman, registered Democrat, in her 70s. My analysis shows that Black voters are twice as likely as white voters to find their names on the list. The white voters include both parents of Allison Riggs, Griffin鈥檚 opponent.
The State Board of Elections recently rejected Griffin鈥檚 challenge of 60,000 ballots, but he is taking his case to the Republican-controlled N.C. Supreme Court. (Note: Chief Justice Paul Newby won his seat by only 401 votes in 2020 with many of the same voters Griffin now wants to disqualify.)
鈥淚鈥檇 call it cheating,鈥 concludes Ben Webb, another voter on Griffin鈥檚 list. 鈥淗e鈥檚 throwing whatever he can against the wall and hoping his buddies will find a way to put him in office. It鈥檚 immoral and unethical.鈥
Maybe Newby and a majority of justices will ignore such criticism and rule that the same voters who elected them are now illegitimate. If that happens and Jefferson Griffin takes a seat on the Supreme Court, he鈥檒l be the one forever remembered as illegitimate.
