RALEIGH, N.C. — In a split decision, a panel of judges on the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled Friday that tens of thousands of votes cast in the contested 2024 Supreme Court race should be recounted and verified — potentially flipping the election results.

The court ordered that over 65,000 voters whose eligibility has been challenged by Republican Jefferson Griffin should be given 15 days to provide documentation to election workers showing they are able to vote. If they fail to do so, their votes would be thrown out.

The panel’s two Republican judges made up the majority, while the Democrat dissented.

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 ruling comes nearly five months after the November election and is unlikely to be the final step in the contentious case, which has left North Carolina as the only state in the country with an uncertified statewide race.

Griffin narrowly lost his race to Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs by 734 votes. But he, alongside the North Carolina Republican Party, has challenged the validity of tens of thousands of ballots on untested legal grounds.

In February, he lost at the Superior Court level, but Friday’s decision from the appeals court overturned that ruling.

Riggs is likely to appeal to the state Supreme Court. While she maintains her seat on the court as the dispute plays out, she has recused herself from the case.

That means that if Griffin’s challenge reaches the high court, it will be heard by five Republicans and one Democrat. It also raises the possibility of a 3-3 deadlock among the justices.

If that were to happen, the most recent ruling of a lower court prevails, which means Friday’s decision from the Court of Appeals could stand.

However, Riggs has said that if she loses at the state court level, she intends to return the case to federal court.

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