A North Carolina appeals court has sided with the trailing Republican candidate in an extremely close state Supreme Court election.

In a statement following the ruling, Riggs vowed to appeal the decision.

The ruling was a win for the Republican who narrowly lost a State Supreme Court race in November. The case has tested the boundaries of post-election litigation.

The majority wrote that, even though they have the authority to completely throw out the contested ballots, they decided to instead mandate a cure period for most of the challenged voters.

The 60,000 contested ballots in the North Carolina state Supreme Court race should be recounted and verified, according to a ruling Friday from a panel of the state appeals court.  The 2-1 ruling

On Friday, lawyers for Judge Jefferson Griffin asked his colleagues on the North Carolina Court of Appeals to retroactively change the rules for the 2024 state Supreme Court election and throw out tens of thousands of ballots.

As a legal fight continues in North Carolina's unresolved and contentious state Supreme Court election from last November, the Republican challenger in the race faces pressure over contested military ballots.