Republican protests in close North Carolina races dismissed by elections board

Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s elections board has dismissed protests filed by several Republican candidates trailing narrowly in their races last month who have questioned well over 60,000 ballots cast this fall. The Democratic-majority board agreed Wednesday to throw out the protests of GOP Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin and three legislative candidates. Members voted mostly along party lines. Griffin was fewer than 750 votes behind Demcoratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs from over 5.5 million ballots cast. The board’s decisions can be appealed to state court. One legislative race at issue could end the Republicans’ GOP veto-proof majority come next year.