North Carolina
Federal judge punts disputed judicial race back to North Carolina's conservative state Supreme Court
Republican judicial candidate Jefferson Griffin is getting the audience he wanted for his claim that 60,000 ballots should be invalidated in his electoral loss to Democrat Allison Riggs. A federal district court judge has remanded Griffin’s election protest to the heavily conservative state Supreme Court, the same court Griffin is trying to join.
After the general election and two recounts — a statewide machine recount and a partial hand-to-eye recount of ballots from randomly selected early voting sites and Election Day precincts in each county — Allison Riggs, the Democratic incumbent, holds a 734-vote lead over Griffin.
The vote count notwithstanding, Griffin, a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals, has fought to throw out more than 60,000 ballots for alleged irregularities despite lacking evidence of any actual voter ineligibility.
In most of the cases, Griffin has alleged the disputed ballots were cast by voters who did not properly register under North Carolina law. The issue has to do with voters who registered — some of them many years and election cycles ago — using a form that predated the federal Help America Vote Act, or HAVA, of 2002. The pre-HAVA registration form did not clearly mandate registrants provide the last four digits of their Social Security number or their driver’s license number.
Griffin’s protests notwithstanding, neither state law nor HAVA makes having a Social Security number or a driver’s license number a prerequisite for voting.
In cases where elections officials cannot confirm the last four digits of a voter’s Social Security number or that person’s driver’s license number — often due to a clerical error — that voter must present a so-called HAVA document, such as a utility bill, when they first show up to vote.
And if a person registering to vote does not have a Social Security number or a driver’s license number, HAVA provides that a state elections administration office must assign the voter a special identification number for the purposes or registering.
Griffin has also protested the counting of ballots submitted by some absentee military and overseas voters who did not provide photo identification, even though state administrative code, in accordance with federal law, explicitly excuses such overseas voters from that requirement.
Additionally, Griffin has alleged some ballots should be discarded because they were cast by ineligible voters who live overseas. These protests claim children of overseas voters — for example, missionaries and military personnel — who had never resided in North Carolina, should not have been allowed to vote, though such voters are eligible under state law, again, in line with federal laws protecting the voting rights of overseas citizens.
After the state elections board dismissed Griffin’s ballot protests due to a lack of evidence of improper voting and a failure to provide affected voters with adequate notice, the Republican candidate filed a writ of prohibition directly with the state Supreme Court.
Griffin circumvented the typical state court appeals process and asked the high court to block the elections board from certifying his electoral loss.
Attorneys for the state elections board had the case removed to federal court because, they argued, it raised federal questions about HAVA and other U.S. Constitutional voting rights protections.
But attorneys for Griffin disagreed and argued in their briefs to Judge E. Richard Myers II of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina that the matter at hand concerned an election for state office and unsettled questions of state, not federal, law.
Those arguments carried the day with Myers, a Donald Trump appointee, who, on Monday evening, remanded the case back to the North Carolina Supreme Court.
“Should a federal tribunal resolve such a dispute?” asked Judge Myers in his order, referring to the Griffin’s claims the disputed ballots should be invalidated.
“This court, with due regard for state sovereignty and the independence of states to decide matters of substantial public concern, thinks not,” Myers wrote, answering his own question.
The fact that North Carolina’s registration statute refers to, and aligns with, HAVA, did not sway Myers that the Griffin protests belong in federal court.
“Because Griffin’s first challenge does not require resort to HAVA,” Myers wrote in this order, referring to Griffin’s protests over allegedly incomplete voter registrations, “it does not necessarily raise a question of federal law.”
The challenges to overseas voters who never resided in North Carolina and military and overseas voters who did not provide photo IDs also only require interpretations of state law, according to Myers.
The state elections board was poised to certify the results of the election by Friday barring a court’s intervention. Judge Myers’s order could be appealed to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The general counsel for the state elections board said his office is reviewing Myers’ order.
North Carolina
North Carolina couple accused of causing vulture invasion sued by furious town: ‘Not good neighbors’
A North Carolina couple accused of luring hordes of vultures to their home and unleashing chaos on neighbors for years is being hauled to court by fed-up town officials desperate to end the feathered frenzy.
The Town of Hillsborough slapped residents Kenneth and Linda Ostrand with a civil petition, seeking a court order to shut down their relentless bird-feeding habit, blamed for allegedly drawing dozens of winged scavengers to their home and terrorizing their small town for the past two years.
“They’re a little spooky to be frank,” concerned neighbor Holden Richards told WTVD.
“Everybody thinks they’re ugly and stuff but they’re not good neighbors. They have sharp talons, so they’re not great animals to have perching on your house. I watched them pick tiles off my neighbor’s roof and I found tiles from my roof in my front yard, so I have a feeling that’s exactly where they came from.”
The bird-brained couple is accused of leaving out food scraps for vultures, allegedly reeling in the feathered predators that have swarmed and roosted near their house, leaving foul-smelling droppings on neighbors’ homes and vehicles and causing widespread property damage deemed a risk to public safety.
The complaint, filed in March, also claims the twisted pair named the birds of prey – with eerie photos submitted to the court showing dozens of vultures circling their Queens Street home, the outlet reported.
“I’m pretty sure that every one of my neighbors has probably called,” Richards said, pointing to a flood of complaints made to town officials since May 2024.
The Ostrands reportedly filed a motion to dismiss the town’s case last month, denying the accusations.
Linda Ostrand, a longtime wildlife rescuer, told WTVD she is being unfairly targeted by her community and claimed the circling creatures were already an issue before she moved into the neighborhood.
“It’s sort of, it’s ridiculous, is what it is,” Linda said, noting the town changed an ordinance after the initial wave of complaints to ban wildlife feeding beyond standard feeders.
“If people didn’t have vultures around here you would hear them screaming bloody murder about the town not cleaning up the animals that have been hit by cars, because that’s what they do, they are nature’s garbage disposal,” she continued.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, tell the vultures that this is a no-feed zone. I just don’t know.”
No court date has reportedly been scheduled for the couple’s fight with the town.
North Carolina
Businesses worry of potential impacts as Marion tightens water restrictions amid drought
MARION, N.C. (WLOS) — The City of Marion is tightening water restrictions as drought conditions persist across western North Carolina, prompting local businesses to prepare for possible impacts on daily operations.
The drought monitor released on Thursday, May 14, shows that extreme drought now covers 90% of western North Carolina.
ASHEVILLE IS MORE THAN 7 INCHES BELOW AVERAGE RAINFALL THIS YEAR, DATA SHOWS
As the region continues moving into a hotter and drier pattern, the City of Marion officials announced Stage Two water shortage restrictions less than a month after issuing a Stage One Water Advisory.
Businesses in Marion said the quick escalation is raising concerns about what could come next if drought conditions persist.
“They put us in stage one at the end of April and already it’s not through, it’s not the end of May and they’re already putting us in stage two,” said Barbara Brown, owner of Bruce’s.
Under the Stage Two restrictions, watering lawns, gardens and golf courses will be prohibited. Washing cars, filling residential swimming pools and serving water in restaurants except upon request will not be allowed.
Brown said her restaurant is already taking steps to conserve water.
“We check the bathrooms often to make sure people have turned the water off because we have found from time to time, people leave them running,” she added.
She said she worries stronger restrictions could eventually force businesses to make bigger operational changes.
“I’m concerned that eventually we might have to go to paper plates, paper cups, silverware,” Brown said.
Other businesses are also considering adjustments.
Kat Garner, a tattoo artist at Blue Ridge Tattoo, said water shortages could affect how the shop operates day to day.
LEADERS URGE WATER CONSERVATION AS DROUGHT DEEPENS ACROSS WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
“We would definitely be reduced to using distilled water for everything, which would become harder if everyone’s buying it out, so that would definitely make things a little bit more difficult,” Garner said.
The Stage Two water restrictions are set to begin Friday, May 15, at 8 a.m. and will last until further notice.
North Carolina
Police: North Carolina man charged after high-speed chase in Erie County, arrested in the Town of Perry
PERRY, N.Y. — A North Carolina man is in custody after a chase that started in Erie County and ended with an arrest in Perry.
Wyoming County Sheriff’s deputies say Ericson Vasquez-Moran, 22, rammed a Border Patrol vehicle in Erie County around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday before taking off. The suspect was spotted in Warsaw on Route 20A, but a chase was called off due to high speeds.
Then around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, deputies say Vasquez-Moran called 911 from Perry to surrender.
He’s charged with speeding, failure to keep right, unlawful fleeing a police officer, reckless driving, and reckless endangerment in the second degree.
Vasquez-Moran was given an appearance ticket for the Village of Warsaw Court and was released to the custody of the United States Border Patrol.
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