Last week, a group of voting rights advocates and North Carolina voters held a rally to denounce the voter suppression efforts happening in the state’s elections and the highest court.
Called “Court the Vote”, the newly formed statewide coalition is made up of voting rights advocates, community leaders, voters, and progressive groups who are highlighting “the corruption of the Newby-Berger court”, according to the group’s press release.
“The Newby-Berger majority on the state Supreme Court has repeatedly demonstrated that they are willing to put politics before people, whether it’s attacking voting rights, overturning fair maps, or blocking duly elected justices,” stated Julian Wolff, program director for the Justice Project, an organization that works to promote impartial state courts, during the rally. “We remember what this court did to disenfranchise voters, especially veteran and active duty military voters.”
The group pointed to the Republican North Carolina Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin’s attempt to overturn the 2024 state Supreme Court election. The conservative-leaning North Carolina Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Republican candidate’s effort to throw out over 65,000 ballots in order to steal the election.
A federal court intervened and found Griffin’s effort to disenfranchise voters to be unconstitutional.
Numerous reports showed that Griffin’s ballot challenge disproportionately impacted voters from Democrat-leaning counties, Black and Brown communities, and young North Carolinians. Over 5,500 military servicemembers and overseas voters were also being targeted by Griffin’s attack.
If he were still overseas, Tysen Moy, an Army veteran and UNC Law student, stated that his ballot could have been tossed out due to Griffin’s effort to overturn the election.
“I didn’t bring my driver’s license with me to Iraq, and you’re not allowed by law to make a scan of a military ID. What would I have done?” stated Moy during the rally.
The group also highlighted Chief Justice Paul Newby and Associate Justice Phil Berger Jr.’s history of ruling in favor of harmful measures crafted by state Republican leaders.
Back in 2013, the high court — which flipped to GOP control following the 2022 elections – made the decision to reverse its ruling on voter ID, voting rights for people with felonies, and redistricting. The Newby-Berger court would go on to rule in favor of their Republican counterparts in the legislation.
“Here in North Carolina, we have judges who embrace partisanship and put party loyalty and ideology above the law and above the constitution,” stated Melissa Kromm, Executive Director of North Carolina For The People Action, during the rally.
“We deserve courts that are fair, independent, and accountable to the people, not to partisan operatives or corporate wealthy donors.”
