Federal judge rejects restraining order request from NC Supreme Court candidate

A federal district court judge denied North Carolina Republican Jefferson Griffin's request for a restraining order to block the state's board of elections from certifying his electoral loss in a race for a seat on the state Supreme Court.

Griffin is currently a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals and is trailing Democrat incumbent Allison Riggs by fewer than 1000 votes in what is an incredibly tight race.

He alleges that there were serious irregularities in the election that could have changed the outcome of the race in Riggs's favor. Griffin cited over 60,000 ballots as having irregularities, including incomplete registrations.

Griffin went to the North Carolina state elections board, but it refused to investigate his claims over what was declared a lack of sufficient evidence and a failure to give affected voters adequate notice.

He then turned to the North Carolina Supreme Court and filed a writ of prohibition, asking the high court to block certification of the election and to invalidate the challenged ballots.

Griffin's claims will be litigated, but it appears that his hopes of obtaining a restraining order to stop the certification process are lost. However, it is still possible that there was real voter fraud, and Griffin could expose that as the case makes its way through the court system.