More than 200 North Carolina jurists, senior state government officials, legal experts, and practicing attorneys issued a letter to Judge Jefferson Griffin, urging him to drop his efforts to throw out 66,000 ballots cast in the 2024 November elections.
The letter, sent last week, underscores the importance of respecting the will of the voters and highlights the threat Griffin’s efforts pose to the public’s faith in our judicial system.
The letter’s signatories include prominent justices and judges such as former NC Supreme Court Chief Justices Jim Exum and Henry Frye, former NC Supreme Court Associate Justices J. Phil Carlton and Willis Whichard, and former NC Court of Appeals Judges Gerald Arnold, Linda McGee, Wanda Bryant, Jack L. Cozort, Martha A. Geer, Reuben F. Young, Linda Stephens, and Ralph A. Walker.
“We must ensure that the people of North Carolina can rely on the fairness and impartiality of our courts,” said Linda Stephens, former Judge on the NC Court of Appeals, in a press release. “Judge Griffin’s demand that the courts throw out the votes of more than 66,000 North Carolinians is a serious threat to the public’s faith in our judicial system.”
The letter comes as the case has made its way to the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Last month, the Wake County Superior Court ruled in favor of protecting voters and denied Griffin’s attempt to throw out over 65,000 ballots, a decision he is now appealing.
Despite multiple independent recounts confirming that North Carolinians elected Justice Allison Riggs, Griffin continues to find ways to overturn the election results.
“Our state has reliable procedures in place to ensure that the vote count is accurate. Those procedures were faithfully followed and confirmed that Jefferson Griffin lost the election,” said Marshall Hurley, former General Counsel for the NC Republican Party, in a press release. “It’s time for Judge Griffin to concede and allow our state to move forward”.
Read the letter here.
