Former Gov. Roy Cooper, seen here during a briefing in September of 2024, on Monday blasted the effort of Republican Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin to have more than 60,000 ballots cast in the November election thrown out. (Photo: Galen Bacharier)
In some of his first post-gubernatorial remarks on state politics, Roy Cooper condemned Judge Jefferson Griffin’s ongoing election lawsuit as an “egregious attack on the right to vote” that threatens to disenfranchise tens of thousands of North Carolinians.
“For those who don’t follow elections closely, it’s important for you to know that this is just not another step in the recount process,” Cooper said during a Monday afternoon virtual news conference with Democratic Party officials. “This is a scheme to throw out legal votes en masse by eligible voters who even showed their voter ID to be able to vote.”
Also present on the call were outgoing Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison of South Carolina and North Carolina party chair Anderson Clayton. Harrison tied Griffin’s efforts to the Jan. 6 insurrection following Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss, reminding attendees that “democracy is not something guaranteed to us” and must be fought for.
The race for incumbent Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs’s seat was the closest statewide election in North Carolina last November. Though Griffin, her opponent, appeared to lead in the race after Election Day, Riggs pulled ahead once all ballots were counted, and a full machine recount showed her prevailing by a 734-vote margin. A partial hand recount left that result in place.
In the wake of the election result, Griffin brought election protests seeking to throw out more than 60,000 early or absentee ballots on the grounds that voters failed to provide either a driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number when registering and so could not legally vote. A federal judge dismissed a challenge premised on a similar argument prior to the election last year. Among those whose votes face challenges are some Republican elected officials and Riggs’s own parents.
An analysis by political scientist Chris Cooper found that voters who were challenged were disproportionately nonwhite, young, and less likely to be registered Republicans. On the call Monday, Clayton blasted Griffin for “targeting Black voters, young voters, women in our state” for exclusion. “It’s truly terrifying right now that in 2025, we’re in a position where a candidate could possibly succeed in tossing out ballots and rejecting democracy,” she said.
The North Carolina Supreme Court ordered the State Board of Elections not to certify the race as it considers the case. Riggs, as a candidate in the election in question, has recused herself from the case. It is the only election in the state yet to be certified. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is separately considering whether to return the case to federal court and will hear arguments on Jan. 27.
“They just want to win so badly that they will do anything in order to be able to win, and it’s deeply concerning that the North Carolina Supreme Court has stopped the certification of this election,” Cooper said. “The eyes of the entire country are on this race because the implications of having free and fair elections that are being questioned and potentially overturned are devastating.”
He said he expects “copycat lawsuits” around the country should Griffin’s challenge succeed from other candidates unwilling to concede defeat in their elections. “Voters in North Carolina will be unable to walk out of a voting booth ever again and feel confident that their vote will count.”
He called for a return to nonpartisan judicial elections and connected the lawsuit to other efforts by Republicans to expand their power in the state, including Senate Bill 382, which moved the State Board of Elections from under the governor’s authority to the state auditor, who is now a Republican. This will allow Republicans to hold a majority of the seats on the election board.
“The people of North Carolina had no idea that the state auditor would be involved in running elections, and this is just simply another attempt for [Republicans] to control elections in this state,” Cooper said. “With this kind of lawsuit that they are backing, that spells trouble for democracy.”
Cooper is considered a top potential U.S. Senate candidate in 2026 as Democrats seek a challenger to Republican incumbent Sen. Thom Tillis, but so far, he has not confirmed his plans. He refrained from public comment on the race until after concluding his term in office, but has repeatedly condemned the effort by Republicans as an attack on democracy in his post-gubernatorial life.
“Whether candidates win or lose, they need to respect the results, because we do live in a democracy,” Cooper said. “We’ll continue to fight for Justice Riggs because 60,000 North Carolina eligible voters will be silenced if she is not declared the rightful winner in this race.”