Federal appeals court appears divided on NC Supreme Court election protest

The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is weighing whether a Supreme Court election protest should return to federal court or remain in state court.

Democratic Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs and Republican Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin are neck-and-neck in their 2024 Supreme Court bids.

In a highly wonky and remarkably confusing 94-minute hearing on Monday, a three-judge panel for the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals evaluated whether an ongoing Supreme Court election protest ought to be returned for a lower federal court’s review or remain in state court. They did not assess the merits of the case itself.

Rather than try to unpack all the dense legal arguments of a messy jurisdictional dispute, this is what you should know: A George H.W. Bush-appointed judge (Paul Niemeyer) appeared very sympathetic to Jefferson Griffin’s efforts to keep the ongoing dispute in state court, while a Biden-appointed judge (Toby Heytens) appeared far more sympathetic to arguments from Democrat Allison Riggs’ camp.

This stands to make a Trump-appointed judge (Marvin Quattlebaum) the ultimate decider, who appeared to lean more toward letting the matter play out in state court, giving a win for Griffin.

“I'm a little frustrated, not just at y'all, but at the other side, about what you said about the cases,” Quattlebaum told an attorney representing the State Board of Elections, pushing back on Democrats’ argument for removing the matter from state court.

While things are fluid and the U.S. Supreme Court could very well be asked to chime in, these appear to be the likeliest scenarios to play out:

Scenario #1: Stays in state court