A Trump-appointed judge rebukes NC judges’ quest to overturn an election | Opinion

Jefferson Griffin’s relentless bid to overturn the North Carolina Supreme Court race that he lost by 734 votes may finally be over. A federal judge finally ruled Monday — six months after Election Day — that the state must certify Allison Riggs’ victory.

But what’s particularly striking about the ruling is that it came from a conservative. Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers, the judge who issued the ruling, is a Donald Trump appointee. Myers’ ruling was clear: Griffin and his Republican allies have no right to change the rules of an election that has already occurred. To do so would violate the due process and equal protection rights of the affected voters, he ruled.

“That principle will be familiar to anyone who has ever played a sport or a board game. You establish the rules before the game,” Myers wrote. “You don’t change them after the game is done.”

It really is that simple. Yet it seems to be a principle that Republican judges in North Carolina cannot — or refuse to — grasp. Two Republican judges on the N.C. Court of Appeals ruled that more than 60,000 voters should have had to prove their identities within 15 days or lose their right to vote. A Republican-dominated N.C. Supreme Court said those votes should stand, but left the door open to throwing out thousands of other votes from overseas voters and so-called “never residents,” despite the fact that those “never residents” were erroneously labeled as such. Pretending there is even an ounce of merit in Griffin’s ridiculous scheme to overturn an election is shameful.

The sole Republican judge to defend the rule of law in North Carolina is Republican Justice Richard Dietz, who has remained steadfast in his belief that rewriting the rules of an election after the election is unlawful and unwise. Resisting the pressures of partisanship in North Carolina is no easy feat these days, and his courage should be commended.

Outside of North Carolina, however, Griffin’s crusade is over. North Carolina may be a state where Republicans get to do whatever they want to do, but federal judges aren’t willing to participate in what is essentially a judicial coup. Griffin can appeal this ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals, but they shouldn’t expect a different result there. That court has already ruled against the argument once.

It’s yet another reminder of how baldly and awfully partisan judges in North Carolina have become. The depth and diversity of people who know this lawsuit has no merit is incredible. It includes voters from both parties, elections officials of all political stripes, military leaders and hundreds of judges, government officials and attorneys from across the political spectrum. Now, a Trump-appointed federal judge has agreed. It’s North Carolina’s Republican judges who are the extreme outliers.

Republicans cannot lament a rogue judiciary or overreach by “radical left judges.” They cannot accuse the judge who issued the ruling of partisan bias, although they may still try. This is a conservative judge, appointed by Donald Trump. He is a member of the conservative Federalist Society and the National Rifle Association. It’s exactly the kind of judge Republicans would hope — or expect — to side with them. But he isn’t — he’s rebuking Republican logic and laying bare their attempt to steal an election.

Unfortunately, some damage has already been done. The rulings of these North Carolina judges have demonstrated their willingness to place politics before the law, and signaled an openness to even the most ridiculous of legal theories that could overturn a legitimate election. Refusing to reject Griffin’s lawsuit outright sets a dangerous precedent, and it gives Republicans a reason to try again in the future. They have destroyed their credibility in the most public of ways. No matter how this case ends, they can’t escape that.

This story was originally published May 6, 2025 at 11:09 AM.