Myers gave Griffin a week to appeal the order before the state board certified the result. Election law expert Rick Hasen predicted that further appeals would be rejected, including by the US Supreme Court, given the strength of the due process and equal protection arguments.

Riggs’ victory would maintain the 5-2 Republican majority on the state Supreme Court. But it would give Democrats a shot at retaking the court before the critical 2030 redistricting cycle, when the court could oversee new legislative maps. That’s one reason the race was so hotly contested. “We’ve knocked over the first domino that we need to for Democrats to take back the North Carolina Supreme Court in 2028,” Riggs told me after the election.

It shouldn’t be considered a major victory for democracy when an election result is certified six months after the contest has concluded. But that’s where things stand in Trump’s America.