Friday’s hearing marks the beginning of a new phase of arguments, after both sides spent months arguing over whether the case should be heard by state or federal courts.

An appeals court agreed Tuesday that a federal trial judge acted properly last month in declining to rule on the eligibility of tens of thousands of voters last fall in an unresolved North Carolina Supreme Court election and returning the matter to state court.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that North Carolina's disputed race for a seat on the state Supreme Court must be reviewed in state courts before the matter can go before a federal tribunal.

The 2024 race for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat remains the last vote from the election to not be settled. Here's what to know.

In a win for Judge Jefferson Griffin, his challenge to North Carolina Supreme Court seat race will remain in state court, with a federal court retaining jurisdiction of several federal issues, should they remain after state court proceedings are resolved.

The election is among the final Nov. 5 races nationwide still not settled.