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.

Tuesday’s decision means Judge Jefferson Griffin’s challenge could eventually be heard by the North Carolina Supreme Court, the very body he aims to join.

Three counts found an incumbent Democrat won a State Supreme Court race. But the Republican candidate is trying to nullify more than 60,000 votes.

Republican judge Jefferson Griffin has won a temporary reprieve in his effort to undo the 2024 election results that showed him losing to Democratic Justice Allison Riggs in a race for the state Supreme Court.

An appeals court has agreed that a federal trial judge acted properly last month in declining to rule on the eligibility of voters in an unresolved North Carolina Supreme Court election.

Two recounts have confirmed incumbent Allison Riggs, a Democrat, as the winner of her North Carolina Supreme Court seat over Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin.