Jefferson Griffin, a Republican candidate in the 2024 election for the North Carolina Supreme Court, sued the State Board of Elections in December to have over 60,000 votes nullified, including 541 votes from Watauga County. Rallies took place throughout North Carolina Feb. 17 in response to Griffin’s challenge, including one in Boone.
The votes Griffin petitioned to have nullified are publicly available in a searchable database called The Griffin List.
To have a vote nullified means it is not legally recognized and is not counted when a race is being called. Votes are nullified by boards of elections or courts when there is evidence against their legality.
Griffin lost the race for Associate Justice Seat 6 to incumbent Democrat Allison Riggs in November by 734 votes.
Griffin said 60,000 of the votes cast are invalid because the voters did not have a driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number on file. According to NCSBE, individuals are still entitled to vote without this information on file if they show a valid form of ID.
Rallies for “The People v. Griffin” took place across North Carolina from Feb. 15-23, organized by Common Cause North Carolina. According to their website, the organization works to defend voting rights, hold the government more accountable and encourage transparency.
Cathy Williamson was the organizer for the People v. Griffin rally that took place in Boone. The rally was held in the Boone Town Council Chambers and included testimonies from voters who had been put on The Griffin List.
Williamson had four people speak publicly at the rally about their experiences as voters in Watauga County. All of them have been voting for at least five years, and one individual has voted in 38 elections. The 2024 election was the first time that these individuals were made aware of any problems with their information.
“The ultimate goal is to make you doubt the system, make you question the system, make you pessimistic about voting, frustrate you about voting so that when voting comes around, your mindset is, ‘What does it matter?’” Williamson said.
Jared Caudill is a senior geography major who is on The Griffin List. He said he had no idea this situation was happening at all.
“I honestly don’t know the context or story behind the Griffin List but if someone can potentially get away with nullifying votes, it makes me think like, what else could possibly occur when something doesn’t go someone’s way?” Caudill said. “It’s a slippery slope in my opinion.”
Layla Bouis is a junior music education major who is on the list as well. She registered to vote on campus as a freshman and has voted twice since then.
“Before I casted my vote, I was required to show my ID during early voting on site, so it doesn’t make any sense to me that my vote would be nullified,” Bouis said.
She said the reaction from Griffin feels unfair and it seems like he is desperately trying to get a different result by any means necessary.
“It feels like we’re in a new age where if someone loses an election, even if the votes are recounted numerous times, someone has to cry wolf and claim fraud,” she said. “When people run for any office, it should be known that there is a possibility of losing and if that person loses, they should accept that with grace.”
Williamson agreed with the sentiment and said this situation sets a bad precedent for future elections.
“If this works, what happens the next time somebody loses? Do they throw out 80,000 votes? Do they petition to throw out 100,000 votes?” Williamson said.
She said this situation is embarrassing for North Carolina because this race remains the only uncertified race left from the 2024 election.
“This is voter suppression and it is a non-partisan issue. There are Democrats and Republicans and unaffiliated voters on this list. So this offends everybody,” Williamson said.
For voters who find themselves, friends or loved ones on this list, Williamson said even though this is not a localized issue, there are still solutions and actions to be taken.
“I think what the solution is going to be is public pressure. And by that I mean getting on social media and putting your story out there,” Williamson said.
Voters can go to thegriffinlist.com to see if they or someone they know is on the list of challenged votes.
