Griffin, a Republican, has asked the North Carolina Supreme Court to force the state Board of Elections to throw out more than 60,000 votes that he claims, in part, are invalid because voters' registration applications were incomplete.

In this moment of crisis, the courts have become the final guardrail against the forces of authoritarianism that seek to undermine the will of the voters.

The North Carolina Supreme Court has dismissed a request by the trailing candidate in an close race for a seat on the court to rule now on whether well over 60,000 ballots should be removed from the tally.