John, Last year's Supreme Court election is finally over. Yesterday, Judge Griffin conceded.

We're not going to pretend like everything is fixed now. Opponents of voting rights still spent six months litigating this loss, trying to throw out thousands of legitimate votes. They still have a majority on the North Carolina state Supreme Court, and can still defend anti-voting initiatives that come from their state legislature.

But for now -- for one moment -- defenders of our elections and our fundamental right to vote prevailed. Your constant support and work to spread the word about this saga has been crucial. You have our thanks as we can all take a deep breath and turn our attention to other fights.

Onward,

The Voter Action Project Team

The saga over this election continues, John. Here's the latest update:

Last year, North Carolina passed a bill that reallocated power away from the Governor. This was a purely partisan move after the state legislature -- which had a supermajority of one party -- was upset that the other party had held onto the governor's office in the 2024 election, when State Attorney General Josh Stein beat Donald Trump's handpicked candidate, Mark Robinson.

The North Carolina Court of Appeals (one rung below the state supreme court) upheld that new law in a court challenge, so the North Carolina State Auditor -- a partisan elected politician of the same party as the state legislature's majority -- was able to appoint new members to the North Carolina Election Board. Instead of a pro-voting rights election board filled with appointments by the newly elected governor, opponents of voting rights now have a majority on the state election board.

This is yet another example in North Carolina where opponents of voting rights are more focused on protecting their own power than they are in serving the people and having fair elections. Hypocritical partisans are blatantly trying to steal this judicial election in plain sight. And you can bet they're going to try to do it in the 49 other states if they get away with it here.

We must keep the pressure up to stop this post-election interference with legitimate votes. Please pitch in $25 or whatever you can right now to help us spread the word and make these ballots count in North Carolina and stop suppression across the country >>

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The backstory if you haven't been following this: After the 2024 election, the North Carolina state supreme court stepped in to stop the certification of the election for a justice on their court, which is a huge breach of power and a clearly partisan action in a state where judges are affiliated with political parties.

Back on Election Day 2024, incumbent Justice Allison Riggs (D) was reelected by a slim margin of a few hundred votes. Her disgruntled opponent, GOP Judge Jefferson Griffin, sued for and received two separate recounts -- both of which increased Riggs' lead.

After months of legal wrangling, the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled in Griffin’s favor, deciding that 60,000 ballots in four heavily democratic counties must be recounted and verified. The ruling states that all 60,000 people must be notified and given 15 business days to provide proof of identity, or their vote will be thrown out. This ruling would have disenfranchised tens of thousands of people without showing any proof that any of these voters are actually ineligible. 

After incumbent Justice Allison Riggs appealed a ruling to cure or discard 60,000 valid votes, a federal appeals court blocked the partisan North Carolina attempt to silence these voters. A George W. Bush-appointed and a Biden-appointed judge placed a hold on the cure process, with a Trump-appointed judge dissenting.

Now, vengeful partisans have taken control of the state elections board in order to steal this seat for good.

What's really the big deal here? If Judge Griffin's campaign thought the registration process was legally flawed, he should have challenged it *before* the election. He also should have challenged the process in every county, not just four that don't align with his political party. This is a blatant attempt to change the rules just because he lost. And his partisan cronies are going along with it to protect their power and their majority on the state supreme court.

We've got to make sure everyone knows about this egregious intervention before these votes are stolen and the voices of the people are silenced. Will you chip in $25 or whatever you can right now to help us spread the word? >>

Integrity First Voter Action Project is dedicated to expanding ballot access and increasing voter participation across the country.

Since the Supreme Court gutted key provisions in the Voting Rights Act, extreme politicians have taken advantage to pass harsh laws that restrict access to the ballot box. These restrictions particularly affect disadvantaged communities and people of color. It’s our goal to bring awareness to these laws wherever they may crop up and organize voters to take action to ensure the right to vote is available to everyone in their states and communities.

Your support is crucial to our efforts. Will you donate today to help us protect voting rights?

Contributions or gifts to Integrity First Voter Action Project are not tax deductible as charitable contributions or as business expenses under IRC Section 162(3). Integrity First Voter Action Project is organized and operates under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.

A copy of Integrity First Voter Action Project's latest financial report may be obtained by mail at Integrity First Voter Action Project, c/o Mele Brengarth & Assoc, PO Box 15845, Washington, DC 20003.

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Integrity First Voter Action Project
P.O. Box 19294
Portland, OR 97280
United States