Asheville resident and challenged voter Elizabeth MacDonald said while trying to evacuate during Hurricane Helene, she spent the night in a hospital parking lot with her infant son. Amid the storm recovery, she still made every effort to cast an early vote in the election, she said.

The North Carolina Supreme Court has dismissed a request by the trailing candidate in an close race for a seat on the court to rule now on whether well over 60,000 ballots should be removed from the tally.

The state Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would not immediately decide on Judge Jefferson Griffin’s request to discard votes cast in his election, sending the case back to Wake County Superior Court.