Riggs leads in NC Supreme Court race. A recount is expected.

Democrat Allison Riggs leads Republican Jefferson Griffin by 623 votes. (Courtesy photos)

With all counties reporting, incumbent Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs, a Democrat, is leading Republican Appeals Court Judge Jefferson Griffin by 623 votes out of about 5.5 million cast in the race for a Supreme Court seat.

They are separated by less than 1 percentage point, so Griffin is able to request a recount.

Griffin has until today, Tuesday, to make the request. His campaign also appeared to be preparing for voter challenges.

Not all counties completed the final vote tallies by last Friday, as expected. A few were still counting ballots into Monday night. Duplin and Northampton counties still showed their results to be unofficial on Tuesday morning, though both counties have approved and counted provisional ballots.

Riggs trailed on election night by about 10,000 votes in the unofficial results. That was before local boards of election considered and counted provisional ballots and absentee ballots that arrived on Election Day.

"The deadline for the runner-up candidate to file for a recount is Tuesday November 19 at 12pm, and we expect that a recount request will be filed," Riggs wrote on X. "Recounts are a normal electoral process that allow for transparency and promote public confidence in our electoral systems," the statement said.

"I'm grateful for your continued support, and for the time and dedication of our election workers across the state. This is what democracy looks like."

Republicans hold five seats on the seven member court. Democrats need to hold Riggs' seat to achieve their goal of winning a majority on the court by the next redistricting in 2031.

On Monday, Griffin and the state Republican Party sued the state Board of Elections, saying his campaign had not received voter information needed to file protests.

His campaign sought information on people who appear to have voted both absentee and in person, and those who voted curbside. He also wanted lists of felony convictions, lists of people who died after voting, and state instructions to counties on how they should treat those ballots.

Board of Elections spokesman Pat Gannon told WRAL in a statement that Griffin's campaign asked for the records over the weekend, demanding them by 7 am Monday. GOP lawyers were told Monday morning that the information was coming, and elections officials provided it, but the campaign sued anyway, said Gannon. He called the lawsuit "thoroughly unnecessary."

North Carolina has a history of tight judicial races. In 2020, Republican Paul Newby topped Democrat Cheri Beasley by 401 votes out of nearly 5.4 million cast in the North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice contest.