A North Carolina Supreme Court judge who spoke out against her state's decision to suspend early voting and allow Robert F. Kennedy to disregard election deadlines warns elections are under attack from Republicans in her state.
Justice Allison Riggs, one of two Democrats on the seven-person court, told Slate on Wednesday she rejected the panel's decision to allow Kennedy to remove his name from the key swing state's ballot — and the Republican legislature's decision to nix crucial election funding.
"It is not my job to denigrate the integrity of the courts," Riggs said. "But when the courts need to be held accountable, it is my job as a constitutional officer to make sure that voters have information to understand when a court is acting inappropriately."
Riggs added she does not regret her outspoken stance — even if it costs her her place on the North Carolina court in the upcoming election.
"My seat is the only seat up on the North Carolina Supreme Court this year," Riggs said. "I want voters to know that when I say transparency, consistency, and integrity are important characteristics to me, I mean that I will speak the truth in my written word, as well."
Riggs opined that Republican lawmakers in her state have desecrated the judicial branch by cutting public financing for court elections.
"I’ve talked to judges in a lot of states who are horrified that I call lawyers and ask for money directly," Riggs said. "How can you possibly expect a fair hearing when you run elections that way?"
Riggs said she felt compelled to speak out in part because of the greater problems she sees with her state's judicial branch.
"It’s my moral and constitutional obligation to try and make this court work as best it can for the people of this state and to defend the founding documents that we hold so dear," Riggs said.
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"So I have been talking about my values with voters. And it’s walking a fine line."
Riggs detailed lessons learned as a voting rights attorney in Florida, a state that denies millions of convicted felons the right to vote or obtain state licenses to work — the latter point she emphasized as a crucial hurdle.
It leaves potential voters struggling to put food on the table for their kids instead of securing a right Riggs argued should be granted — and a right that protects American democracy.
"We, as a society, have to meet people’s immediate needs if we’re also going to ask them to see the power in their vote and exercise it," Riggs said.
"When you don’t have a holistic system to support people voting—if you say, Well, you didn’t care enough, you didn’t jump through these hoops—you’re excluding people from civic participation in a way that has a domino effect in so many other areas."