Justice Allison Riggs
Appearances
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Responds to Court Certification Ruling
Yeah, thanks so much for having me, Ben. Six months to the day after Election Day, after North Carolina voters spoke, a federal district court judge issued what was an enormous victory, not just for North Carolina voters, but for voters all across the country. This has been a tough six months, but I'm no stranger to tough fights.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Responds to Court Certification Ruling
And we knew all along that the threat here was existential, that if people with power can toss out ballots selectively after an election, cancel the votes of people they think didn't vote for them, that democracy cannot exist in those conditions. And so we have been fighting tooth and nail In a courtroom, not just for North Carolina service members, that was a worthy enough fight for sure.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Responds to Court Certification Ruling
North Carolina service members deserve to have someone standing up to defend them the way they defend us. But we knew that this... would open the door to enormous mischief and frivolous challenges after Election Day across the country. So we're very gratified by the ruling and stand ready to continue the fight if need be. But really, this should have decisively ended it yesterday.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Responds to Court Certification Ruling
Yeah, so the legal terminology for what this was is throwing spaghetti at the wall. My opponent decided to challenge, it reached as high as 68,000 eligible North Carolinians who cast lawful ballots. The biggest bucket, 60,000 of them were voters who were alleged to have information missing from their voter file, including a social security number or a driver's license number.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Responds to Court Certification Ruling
But that information is not required under federal law. Federal law actually provides that those voters can vote if they show a certain ID. My parents were in that bucket of 60,000. My dad is 30 years retired military. He and my mom retired down to North Carolina to be near to me and my sister.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Responds to Court Certification Ruling
They went to register in person using their military IDs, retired military IDs, which don't have driver's license or social security numbers on it. The Department of Defense decided years ago not to put social security numbers on military ID. So my parents followed every rule, did everything right, as did the rest of the 60,000 voters in that bucket.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Responds to Court Certification Ruling
Over the course of the last six months, we were able to knock out that challenge. Even the North Carolina Supreme Court said those voters did nothing wrong, and we won't disenfranchise them. What has persisted has been the selective targeting of voters who use a federal mechanism to vote. It's called the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Voting Act.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Responds to Court Certification Ruling
It's a federal law designed to address how hard it is for military members and their family to vote when they are serving away from home or overseas. Upwards of 5,500 of those voters in four counties only were challenged. So these are people who used a specific identifiable kind of voting because they were service members or working overseas for certain reasons.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Responds to Court Certification Ruling
My opponent, there's 100 counties in North Carolina. He picked four of the most democratic counties and challenged the military and overseas voters in those four counties only. and said they should be challenged. In other more red counties, no problem. And mine was the only race uncertified from the 2024 election cycle. It still is.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Responds to Court Certification Ruling
but no complaints about Donald Trump winning North Carolina in the presidential race. A number of Democrats and Republicans won up and down the ballot. North Carolina is a very purple state, but this was, this was, really troubling, inconsistent, challenging.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Responds to Court Certification Ruling
And it really is reminiscent of the arguments in Bush v. Gore, where in the 2000 election, the question was, well, do we do something in a handful of Florida counties that we're not doing in other counties and subjecting military voters to the presumption that their vote is invalid unless they jump through hurdles, even when they may be serving
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Responds to Court Certification Ruling
on a submarine under seas in the Atlantic Ocean, that that is unconstitutional. And we were gratified that the federal court yesterday upheld every one of the arguments we made about why these challenges violated the federal constitution.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Responds to Court Certification Ruling
Yeah, well, we were thoroughly shocked to find out there even was a list and then to find out that we were on the list when we have voted successfully for 50 years. Is that an issue?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Responds to Court Certification Ruling
Yeah. I mean, I have always represented voters in fights to make sure that their right to vote counted. I was a civil rights and voting rights attorney before joining the bench. And my parents' experience only reminded me of what I already knew, that there are real people at the at the other end of these attempts to put personal political ambition over the rule of law and the Constitution.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Responds to Court Certification Ruling
I put my hand on a Bible two years ago, raised my hand and swore an oath to uphold the federal and state constitutions. It's been my honor to fight for North Carolina voters.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Responds to Court Certification Ruling
It's been my honor to make sure that democracy carries the day across the country and that nothing... I stood hand in hand with voters in North Carolina who said, democracy is not going to die here in North Carolina, not on our watch. And I hope this fight is over, but if it's not, we'll keep fighting. We need...
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Responds to Court Certification Ruling
people voters to decide elections not politicians and not courts and uh it's a it's a good day here in north carolina but we will not let our guard down we will never ever give up um in fighting to keep hands keep power in the hands of the people north carolina supreme court justice allison riggs right off the big decision by the district court in north carolina great to have you on thank you so much
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Supreme Court Torches Trump in Major Oral Argument
Here's what she had to say. Play this clip. It sort of depends on the government's own actions in a case like this one. where one can expect that there is not going to be a great deal of disagreement among the lower courts. I mean, let's assume that you lose in the lower courts pretty uniformly as you have been losing on this issue. And that you never take this question to us.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Supreme Court Torches Trump in Major Oral Argument
I mean, I noticed that you didn't take the substantive question to us. You only took the nationwide injunction question to us. I mean, why would you take the substantive question to us? You're losing a bunch of cases. This guy over here, this woman over here, you know, they'll have to be treated as citizens, but nobody else will. Why would you ever take this case to us?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Supreme Court Torches Trump in Major Oral Argument
You're ignoring the import of my question. I'm suggesting that in a case in which the The government is losing constantly. There's nobody else who's going to appeal. They're winning. It's up to you to decide whether to take this case to us. If I were in your shoes, there is no way I'd approach the Supreme Court with this case. So you just keep on losing in the lower courts.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Supreme Court Torches Trump in Major Oral Argument
And what's supposed to happen to prevent that?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Supreme Court Torches Trump in Major Oral Argument
Somebody who says, you know, after we've said that this all has to be done one by one by one? Then we're going to take a case from somebody who objects to proceeding one by one by one.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Supreme Court Torches Trump in Major Oral Argument
Did I understand you correctly to tell Justice Kagan that the government wanted to reserve its right to maybe not follow a Second Circuit precedent, say, in New York, because you might disagree with the opinion?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Supreme Court Torches Trump in Major Oral Argument
And that is not this administration's practice or the longstanding practice of the federal government. And I'm not talking about in the Fourth Circuit. Are you going to respect a Second Circuit? I'm talking about within the Second Circuit. And can you say is that this administration's practice or a longstanding one?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Supreme Court Torches Trump in Major Oral Argument
Well, OK, so I'm not talking about a situation in which, you know, the Second Circuit has a case from 1955 and you think it's time for it to be challenged. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about in this kind of situation. I'm talking about this week, the Second Circuit holds that the executive order is unconstitutional. And then what do you do the next day or the next week?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Supreme Court Torches Trump in Major Oral Argument
Generally, we follow. So you're still saying generally? Yes. And you still think that it's generally the policy, longstanding policy of the federal government to take that approach? That is my understanding. OK, so but it sounds to me like you accept a Cooper versus Aaron kind of situation for the Supreme Court, but not for, say, the Second Circuit.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Supreme Court Torches Trump in Major Oral Argument
Where you would respect the opinions and the judgments of the Supreme Court, and you're saying you would respect the judgment, but not necessarily the opinion of a lower court.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Supreme Court Torches Trump in Major Oral Argument
So you're not hedging at all with respect to the precedent of this court?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Supreme Court Torches Trump in Major Oral Argument
On the day after it goes into effect. It's just a very practical question how it's going to work. What do hospitals do with a newborn? What do states do with a newborn?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Supreme Court Torches Trump in Major Oral Argument
For all the newborns? Is that how it's going to work?
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Update on NC Supreme Court Seat from Justice Allison Riggs
Well, thanks for having me, Ben. It's a delight to be here. This is a rapidly changing situation. You're right. It does seem like the scope of voters impacted is shrinking, but I need folks to know, one, that my opponent is not accepting that. He wants more voters impacted, more voters potentially disenfranchised, and two,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Update on NC Supreme Court Seat from Justice Allison Riggs
This fight, a cure process going underway to chase and cure only 1,600, 1,700 ballots is, it's better in terms of the number of voters potentially disenfranchised, but it's just as toxic for our democracy because this sets a precedent that could be used anywhere in this country, will be used everywhere in this country,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Update on NC Supreme Court Seat from Justice Allison Riggs
which is if a candidate or a party is disappointed with who wins, they can go and look at the election laws that were on the books as of election day, the rules and the laws that people relied on and the rules they followed, And they can say, hmm, if I challenge this law, maybe enough votes are impacted, voters who were against me, to change the outcome of an election.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Update on NC Supreme Court Seat from Justice Allison Riggs
So the threat to democracy is existential. If this happens here, we will not be able to contain it. And so I am fighting tooth and nail, one, because one voter disenfranchised is too many. We enjoy the fundamental right to vote. The federal Constitution prohibits changing the rules of an election after the election.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Update on NC Supreme Court Seat from Justice Allison Riggs
And really, we all should be offended that our service members and their families are being targeted in the way they are, because the people who are raised their hand to serve shouldn't be the first in line to lose their ballot. if they happen to be coming from a Democratic county. That's just not right. I come from a military family. I'm proud of my family's service.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Update on NC Supreme Court Seat from Justice Allison Riggs
And I will fight for the people like my dad who served. It's the very least I can do.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Update on NC Supreme Court Seat from Justice Allison Riggs
I mean, we've seen this happening in 2020 and 2022. This isn't new. I think the strategy is this cycle, well, there weren't that many close elections nationally. So we invested in these strategies to fight election results that national Republicans didn't like. And so let's see what we can do in a state Supreme Court race in one state.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Update on NC Supreme Court Seat from Justice Allison Riggs
because folks who would dismiss the will of voters really only needed to work once to be able to replicate it and hone it. And even though good judges from both parties were in part responsible for the efforts to overturn the 2020 election from failing, we know that folks just won't give up.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Update on NC Supreme Court Seat from Justice Allison Riggs
And I really I have seen the damage that election denialism and misinformation and disinformation has done to trust in our election systems. I've seen election officials that, you know, when I was in a nonpartisan civil rights job, these were people I worked with closely to help run elections. And they've been threatened. had their lives threatened.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Update on NC Supreme Court Seat from Justice Allison Riggs
So I've seen firsthand before I joined the bench, the damage that's being done. And I don't want voters or even national viewers to think, oh, well, because the margin of voters impacted has shrunk so much that she's likely to win.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Update on NC Supreme Court Seat from Justice Allison Riggs
i don't want people to make any assumptions on that because it really shouldn't matter a candidate's ground game six months after the election that should not come into play i won on election day voters cast their ballot then they decided i do have a great ground game and we will if we have to touch all of those voters but it's You know, it's six months after an election. People have moved on.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Update on NC Supreme Court Seat from Justice Allison Riggs
They're not worried about it. And these are overseas military deployed voters. So these are folks who are hard to get in touch with, are not necessarily thinking there was any problem with their ballot. They didn't cast a provisional ballot. They used a longstanding federal law and a federal law and federal pathway for voting that
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Update on NC Supreme Court Seat from Justice Allison Riggs
And they were told they did not need to copy their ID and send it in through a portal that didn't even have an option for doing that. So long-winded way of saying, I need folks to stay really plugged in on this. I have not dialed this down one ounce. I am fighting incredibly hard to stop this process from even starting.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Update on NC Supreme Court Seat from Justice Allison Riggs
They're calling it a cure process, but cure implies there was something wrong with these ballots. There was not. But I'm fighting to stop this process because it is toothpaste out of the proverbial tube. If we start this and I end up winning and the case becomes moot, you still have this precedent of they got away with it. They got to try to change election laws after the fact to...
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Update on NC Supreme Court Seat from Justice Allison Riggs
change the election outcome. And I know, because I'm a former election lawyer, I understand the threat. And I need your your viewers to understand too, because it's, it's really I need support in both the legal battle and the organizing battle. Because we're doing this dual track, we're preparing for all eventualities.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Update on NC Supreme Court Seat from Justice Allison Riggs
So please go to rigsforourcourts.com. That's four F-O-R, our courts. There's a couple of things I need you to do on my website. One is I need you to look to see if anyone you know is on this list. So there's a tab on my website where you can search names. I need people to sign up for emails, follow me on social media, because literally these are some of the hardest voters to get in touch with.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Update on NC Supreme Court Seat from Justice Allison Riggs
because they are moving, they are in transit, they are, it's not going to even be necessarily the voter we get to, it's going to be the sister or the mother or the cousin. I mean, this is an electoral version of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. And so your listeners are going to know someone who was a student studying abroad in North Carolina or is a military member who's
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Update on NC Supreme Court Seat from Justice Allison Riggs
maintained their residence in North Carolina, is a missionary on the mission field, right? And so go to my website, make any donation you can. It's super helpful. Sign up for our emails and follow me on social media and check to see if anyone you know
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Major Update on NC Supreme Court Seat from Justice Allison Riggs
um could be on this list so that we start making those connections now because next week the clock starts ticking and i'm fighting to make sure that clock doesn't even start but if it does we have to be ready and get these ballots cured in 30 days
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
My website is RiggsForOurCourts.com. R-I-G-G-S-F-O-R-O-U-R-C-O-U-R-T-S.com. Riggs For Our Courts. You can search me. I'm on every social media platform. If you search Alison Riggs or Riggs For Our Courts is my campaign name. You can find me. We are going to be sending regular updates. We're going to let people know what's happening, what they can expect.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
I certainly need people's financial support. This is a war of attrition that my opponent and his allies are waging against me and voters, and I've spent $1.2 million already on legal bills, and I've got a I will not stop fighting. And every dollar helps me not only fight this fight in court, but get this message out so that we understand that we have to win this fight now.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
Just like we just like Demo. Little D, democracy, Democrat, people who cared about democracy won this fight in 22 and in 2020. We have to win this fight now because our democracy cannot survive if voters don't ultimately get to decide who represents them. And so really just stay stay connected with my campaign, stay connected with what's happening in the legal fight.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
And I'm so grateful for you in this platform lifting up what we're what we're fighting down here.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
Thank you.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
Well, thank you so much for having me today. It's such an honor to get to speak to your audience. Tomorrow is five months since Election Day. That's five months in which over 65,000, really it's over 68,000 North Carolina voters have felt stuck and scared. Voters like my parents, who did everything right, did everything that was asked of them, have never had issues voting before.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
And they don't know what's going to happen to their vote because of this protracted litigation. I, before joining the bench, was a civil rights attorney. I focused on voting rights. So this is an area of law that I know well. And I can tell you that what my opponent seeks to do by tossing ballots, like my parents, my dad served 30 years in the military, including deployment in wartime.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
And he used his military ID to register to vote, brought all the right documents. My mom used her driver's license, showed her driver's license when she went to vote this year to vote for me amongst other people. And she does not understand, and most people don't, why a woman who showed her driver's license number is being challenged because her driver's
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
voter file allegedly is lacking a driver's license number. She says to me, I showed them that. And it's really hard and my heart breaks because I know that there are tens of thousands of people across North Carolina, like my parents, who are not political activists. They're not politicians. They just are doing their civic duty, going out to be heard.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
And what I am doing now, I am fighting to make sure that the will of North Carolina voters is respected. I am fighting to make sure that the precious fundamental right to vote is protected in this state, because not just because of my background and my commitment to this
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
important right, but because I put my hand on a Bible and swore an oath to God that I would defend our state and federal constitution and the rights protected therein. And so I am trying to make sure that folks know that I never thought this fight was going to be easy. I was a civil rights attorney. I understand what a tough fight looks like.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
I knew that this was going to be a long, hard fight, but I need people to know that what's happening in North Carolina matters across the country. What my opponent and his allies are trying to do here is what they tried to in 2020 and 2022 and failed to do, which is stop the certification of election, overturn election results that they don't like.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
And if they succeed here, if they succeed in North Carolina, it is like dropping a match in a dry forest and we will not be able to contain the spread. So I know that this fight is about more than North Carolina. It's more than my seat and my oath. It is about the very soul of our democracy.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
And I will not stop standing up for voters and standing in the way of any politician that tries to take the power away from the people.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
Yeah, this is why I'm so glad you took the time to break down the case. We're in state court right now in the system in which I serve. I think that this case is and so today's decision, Friday's decision, the decision of the Court of Appeals is deeply misinformed. I will promptly appeal it.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
And this is going to work its way through the state court system, but I ultimately believe that this matter is going to get resolved in federal court, because there are federal laws that protect the rights of voters to vote, even if an administrative record is missing some information. There are laws on the books that ensure military voters can vote, and to be clear,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
My opponent is and the Court of Appeals ruling today would disenfranchise 5500 military overseas voters deployed service members and in only four. of North Carolina's 100 counties. So my opponent didn't challenge all of the 32,000 military voters. We use the acronym UACAVA. He didn't challenge all 32,000 of those voters.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
He picked four of the most democratic counties in the state and challenged 5,500 voters in those counties. And so I need voters to know just how problematic and cynical this legal strategy is and that I will not give an inch. I will take this to federal court. I will take it all the way up to the United States Supreme Court if I need to.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
But we need people to know, one, that this is going to take six years. nine, maybe 12 months to resolve. This is not going to end anytime soon. And I understand how hard it is for people to deal with this kind of stuff when the markets are crashing and you turn on the national news and your blood pressure rises. There's a lot of outrage fatigue right now. I need people to sign up to
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
Follow what's going on in my case. Sign up on my website, rigsforourcourts.com. Follow me on social media. Stay on top of this. There's going to be a lot of developments in this case in the next few weeks, but also it's not going to end. And it's a lesson to all of us. We saw what happened in Wisconsin this week. Voters in Wisconsin said justice is not for sale.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
We want people of a strong constitutional conviction on the bench. It's why we fight so hard for our state courts in a world now where federal courts have said there's nothing we will do about extreme partisan gerrymandering, where federal courts have said, you know, a woman's access to health care is going to be decided state by state.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
So state legislature reviewed by state court, state courts matter more than ever. And we every year will continue to have these critical state court races. I am working now, as you mentioned, there's only one other Democrat on the North Carolina Supreme Court right now, Justice Anita Earls.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
She is up in 2026 and we are working on a multi-cycle plan to win back our courts for justice in 2028 before the next round of redistricting to make sure that North Carolina People in North Carolina can trust the people who don the robe, who sit on the bench to put them above power and politics, to center people and their rights, to defend institutions that are needed as a check and balance.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
I know we hear a lot, and especially from the legal community, about the importance of the rule of law and of our institutions. What we know from looking across the world is that democracies die when our institutions fail us, when our courts stop being willing to stand up. against political pressure and stand up and do what is right and what the law demands. And so we are fighting down here.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
It's a fight for the very soul of democracy. It is a fight that North Carolinians are ready to have. And they made a decision. Voters made a decision in November. They elected me to keep my seat for the next eight years. And I will make sure that the will of voters gets respected because if my opponent is long-term successful in this effort, elections will never end.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
And people in power will decide which elections they get to respect the results of and which they don't. You'll remember Donald Trump won North Carolina in 2024. No one is challenging the legitimacy of that election. And in fact, no one can point to one single voter who was not eligible to vote in this election whose vote is being challenged now. I can guarantee you my parents were.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Justice Allison Riggs Reacts to Latest NC Court Ruling on Supreme Court Election
I can guarantee you every voter I have talked to on that list and we are doing work to reach all of them. They are all eligible voters and disenfranchising an eligible voter is never okay.