A federal appeals court has agreed to hear more arguments involving a close election in November for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday scheduled oral arguments for Jan. 27 and briefing deadlines. The order means that both the federal appeals court and the state Supreme Court likely will be considering simultaneously substantial matters related to the race between Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs and Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin. Riggs is ahead of Griffin by just 734 votes from over 5.5 million ballots cast. Griffin has argued over 60,000 counted ballots came from ineligible voters and should be removed from the tally.
