Ned Barnett in the News and Observer:

The Griffin lawsuit has ping-ponged between state and federal courts for nearly six months and is currently pending in federal court. Ultimately, this case could endure all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the 6-3 Republican majority might uphold Griffin’s attempt to change the rules that govern an election after the election. “It is pretty fair to say that the idea of disenfranchising voters after they have voted – for administrative errors where the voters were clearly legal voters – is an affront to basic principles of democracy and sets a dangerous precedent,” said Steven Greene, a political science professor at N.C. State University who focuses on U.S. elections.

“There seems to be real potential here for opening a Pandora’s Box nationwide where legitimate voters face the risk of being disenfranchised after the election.” Michael Bitzer, a Catawba College political scientist who closely follows North Carolina elections, agrees that the case could spur election challenges elsewhere. “We could see this as a test case in other states challenging the administrative aspects of voter registration,” he said. “It could also set national dynamics if this case reaches the U.S. Supreme Court, adding to a long line of election law cases out of the state.”…

Richard Hasen, a UCLA law professor and a leading expert on election law, said the Griffin case is especially dangerous after President Donald Trump and other Republicans have sown doubts about the accuracy of election results. Those doubts, he said, make more people willing to accept the removal of legitimately cast votes, a move that would have been almost universally opposed in the past.

“What is different now is so many people believe election conspiracy theories that they would be more likely to support the kind of due process violations that look fundamentally unfair,” Hasen said.

After Trump spent four years falsely claiming that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged,” Griffin’s claim that the Democratic-controlled State Board of Elections is bending the rules against him could gain traction.

“This is the first case that comes in this atmosphere of conspiracy and election denialism,” Hasen said. “You can’t take for granted that federal courts will step in and do the right thing.”

That hazard has already appeared….