Rick H. linked to the unpublished per curiam decision in Griffin v. North Carolina State Board of Elections. Three brief thoughts on it.

First, last week I noted that the case potentially implicated a significant shift in what kinds of cases could be moved into the federal courts. The 4th Circuit seems to accept that pointing to just about any election administration law would qualify someone to remove to federal court:

As the district court explained, the Board claimed that granting Griffin the relief he sought might violate federal civil rights law, including the Help America Vote Act, 52 U.S.C. § 20901, et seq.; the National Voter Registration Act, 52 U.S.C. § 20501, et seq.; the Voting Rights Act, codified in relevant part at 52 U.S.C. § 10307; the Civil Rights Act, codified in relevant part at 52 U.S.C. § 10101, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, codified in relevant part at 52 U.S.C. § 20302; and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Following Republican National Committee v. North Carolina State Board of Elections, 120 F.4th 390, 408 (4th Cir. 2024), we see no error in the district court’s decision.

I am very doubtful all of these statutes are laws “providing for equal rights” (certainly, the Fourteenth Amendment), and I am more doubtful that these laws allow removal to federal court in a state election just because state law points to the federal law. But, I would just be rehashing the points I made in last week’s blog post.

Second, the court rightly shifts from Burford abstention, which would have dismissed the case, to Pullman abstention, which allows the case to remain in the federal courts on hold as the state court process plays out.

Third, and relatedly, this means there is a federal case waiting in the wings in the event the state decision does not go Griffin’s way. But that is an important and slightly unusual caveat. If the case does go Griffin’s way in state court, I assume he would seek to dismiss the federal case, and Riggs might need to file a new lawsuit alleging, say, Due Process or other concerns in the federal system. So, while the case remains pending in the federal courts, it might only see the light of day if Griffin loses in state court.