The latest recount shows incumbent Democratic Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs won reelection to her seat over Republican Jefferson Griffin by 734 votes, but Griffin has contested the eligibility of 60,000 ballots cast in the election.

The election results were set to be certified by the NCSBE on Friday after the Democrat-majority board rejected Griffin’s bid to toss the contested ballots. However, the state Supreme Court issued an order staying the election from being certified.

The state Supreme Court ruled 5-1, with all Republicans in the majority, to issue the stay while Griffin appeals the NCSBE’s decision. The state’s high court also set an expedited schedule for parties to file briefs as the court weighs the appeal.

“This matter should be addressed expeditiously because it concerns certification of an election,” the order said.

The lone dissent came from Democratic Justice Anita Earls, who stated that “the public interest requires that the Court not interfere with the ordinary course of democratic processes as set by statute and the state constitution.” Riggs recused herself from the case.

Griffin’s campaign has argued that the 60,000 ballots were cast by people who did not have a driver’s license number or Social Security number on their file or were people who voted overseas but did not provide photo identification. The board rejected those claims, leading to Griffin’s appeal to federal court, which was then remanded to the state Supreme Court.

Democrats blasted the state Supreme Court’s decision, with former Gov. Roy Cooper claiming that “Republicans want to toss thousands of legal votes in the trash because they don’t like the outcome.” The North Carolina GOP celebrated the decision with a post on X repeating “#EveryLegalVote” three times.

The expedited schedule outlined by the state Supreme Court has the final brief due by Jan. 24.