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Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin trails Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs in their race for a seat on the state Supreme Court, but Griffin says that very tribunal should handle his effort to invalidate more than 60,000 ballots

Republican North Carolina Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin is trying to convince a federal district court judge that a legal battle over his disputed race belongs in state court.

Attorneys for the North Carolina State Board of Elections and Republican state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin have asked a federal judge to expedite a hearing on Griffin's effort to invalidate more than 60,000 ballots in his contest with Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs

Judge Richard E. Myers II of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina has denied Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin's request for a temporary restraining order to block certification of his electoral loss to Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs in the race for a seat on the state Supreme Court

North Carolina’s elections board has dismissed protests filed by several Republican candidates trailing narrowly in their races last month who have questioned well over 60,000 ballots cast this fall. The Democratic-majority board agreed Wednesday to throw out the protests of GOP Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin and three legislative candidates.

Associate Justice Allison Riggs maintained a 734-vote lead over Jefferson Griffin following a machine recount completed last week. Griffin then asked for partial hand recount. That wrapped up Tuesday and actually had Riggs picking up more votes than Griffin. So the State Board of Elections won't order a complete hand recount.

A very close election for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat heads next to a hand recount. That comes after a machine recount of well over 5 million ballots resulted in no margin change between the candidates.

Republican Jefferson Griffin has filed protests challenging more than 60,000 ballots in the race for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court, in which he currently trails Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs by 625 votes

An expensive campaign by abortion-rights advocates for state Supreme Court seats has yielded mixed results. One of the most heated and closely watched court races in North Carolina remained too early to call two days after the election.

The debate over abortion rights is leading to expensive campaigns for state Supreme Courts in several states this year. Groups on the left and right are spending heavily on races in North Carolina, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and other states for courts that could play key roles in litigation over abortion, voting rights and redistricting.