On January 7, the North Carolina State Supreme Court issued an order in Griffin v North Carolina State Board of Elections, 320P24. It forbids the Board of Elections from certifying the vote for State Supreme Court Justice, a partisan office. While the election for that seat temporarily remains undecided, the Republican nominee, Jefferson Griffin, who filed the lawsuit, will try to persuade the court that approximately 60,000 voters who cast a ballot did not prove that they were eligible to vote.

If the Board had certified the election, the results would have shown a narrow win for the Democratic nominee, Alison Riggs.

The approximately 60,000 voters whose votes are being challenged are mostly individuals for whom the registration records don’t list the last four digits of that individual’s Social Security Number, or a Drivers License number.

It is possible the U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th circuit, will upend this outcome. See this news story. It is behind a pay wall but if one answers a question, one can read the article.