Newsletter: ‘I Voted?’: Ongoing NC race could mean post-election rule change
Griffin-Riggs race still unresolved as legal battle continues
Nearly six months after Election Day, a North Carolina Supreme Court race remains the only unresolved November election. After losing to Justice Allison Riggs by 734 votes, Judge Jefferson Griffin challenged more than 60,000 votes, touching off a legal battle that has delayed certification. Last week, a federal appeals court blocked the start of the ballot curing process for 1,400 challenged voters pending further federal court review.
“In American history, we have never had a case where voters have followed the rules that were defined by the courts and the election officials before the election and had those rules changed on them after the election,” CEIR Executive Director David Becker told CBS. This North Carolina Supreme Court race could be a first.
Federal court blocks some provisions of elections executive order
“Our Constitution entrusts Congress and the States—not the President—with the authority to regulate federal elections.” — Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly
In late March, the president signed an executive order attempting a federal takeover of elections. However, the Constitution only grants Congress and the states the authority to regulate federal elections. US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly reaffirmed this fact in her April 24 opinion, granting a preliminary injunction that halts the implementation of key provisions of the executive order.
Executive order targeting former CISA Director Krebs resurrects election lies
Chris Krebs, who was dismissed as head of Trump’s Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) after confirming the security and accuracy of the 2020 election, is in the president’s crosshairs again.
The president recently signed an executive order revoking Krebs’s security clearance and directing the Department of Justice to investigate his time as CISA Director.
While the executive order heightened concerns for many in the elections community about further targeting, CEIR Executive Director David Becker says the order exposes the weakness of fraudulent election claims. “As we sit here four and a half years after the election, there has still not been one single shred of evidence introduced in any court that would suggest the 2020 election was stolen,” he told Votebeat. “You can understand why the president would not want his claims to be vetted in court.”
If the administration wants to avoid having their claims of election fraud vetted in court, then why issue the executive order? Becker told Axios that “the Executive Order attempts to tarnish Krebs’ outstanding reputation, and harm his business, though I suspect both efforts will fail.”
The Election Official Legal Defense Network is a project of CEIR that matches election workers with pro bono attorneys to support them. If you are an election official facing threats, harassment, or federal targeting and believe you may benefit from legal help, we encourage you to submit a request on EOLDN’s website.