WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Tuesday, July 22, Heling will travel to Capitol Hill to speak before the U.S. House Committee on House Administration about her experience being unjustly targeted in Griffin’s lawsuit and concerns about the Department of Justice questioning voter rolls in North Carolina.

The meeting will begin at 10:30 a.m. with live video streaming on the committee’s YouTube channel here.

Multiple recounts and careful election audits confirmed that Justice Allison Riggs won the most votes in the 2024 election to keep her seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court. But rather than concede and respect the election results, losing candidate Jefferson Griffin demanded that the courts do the unthinkable: throw out the lawful votes of more than 65,000 North Carolinians and overturn the election.

Mary Kay Heling was alarmed to discover her name included in the list of tens of thousands of voters challenged by Griffin as he tried to change the rules of the election after the fact. 

“I was shocked and upset, as I had been voting in Wake County since 2016 without issue and with proper identification,” Heling said. “If this happened to me, how does anyone know that their vote is safe?”

In response to Griffin’s ploy, the nonpartisan voting rights group Common Cause North Carolina led “The People v. Griffin” public awareness campaign that rallied residents from every corner of the state against Griffin’s baseless attacks, lifting up the voices of voters like Heling whose ballots were challenged by Griffin.

Griffin pursued his scheme for half a year, until a federal court finally put an end to it in May. But soon after, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit – U.S. v. NC State Board of Elections – alleging that some 200,000 North Carolina voter registration records are “incomplete” for the same reasons that led Heling’s name to be on Griffin’s target list.

Heling will speak to the congressional committee about her experience of being unfairly challenged by Griffin as well as concerns about the Department of Justice’s lawsuit and how it could harm North Carolina voters.

“We at Common Cause are proud to stand with Mary Kay as she courageously speaks up on behalf of North Carolinians whose right to vote has been unfairly challenged,” said Bob Phillips, Executive Director of Common Cause North Carolina. “It’s important for Congress and the nation to hear Mary Kay’s experience, because her story reflects that of tens of thousands of people in our state. It’s a crucial reminder that we must stand together to protect everyone’s freedom to vote.”

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