More than 80 days after Election Day, a race for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court remains unresolved. That's because the Republican candidate is contesting some 65,000 ballots.

Republican Jefferson Griffin is trying to overturn his election loss by asking the North Carolina Supreme Court to toss 5,500 military and overseas absentee ballots. He used the same method to vote in 2019 and 2020.

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.