In the push and pull over whether a Republican judge’s request to throw out more than 60,000 votes in his election contest should be considered in state or federal court, a panel of federal judges said Tuesday that the case will stay in state court for now.

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.

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.

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 return it to state court.

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.

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 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.