Jefferson Griffin, a candidate for the Republican nomination for state Supreme Court, is still pursuing legal action in an attempt to change the outcome of the November election, which he lost to Justice Allison Riggs, who was already in office.

On Wednesday, the state Supreme Court announced that it will not make an immediate decision about Judge Jefferson Griffin's request to throw out the votes that were cast in his election, as MSN reported.

Instead, the issue would be sent back to the Wake County Superior Court.

Griffin, a Republican Appeals Court judge, trailing incumbent Democratic Superior Court Justice Allison Griffin by 734 votes in the contest for a seat on the high court.

Plaintiff's Case

He believes that if the courts annul more than 60,000 ballots, he will be able to get ahead in the vote count and capture the win.

Griffin's protests were rejected by the state Board of Elections last year. Griffin requested that the Supreme Court intervene and declare the votes invalid.

The Supreme Court's injunction still prevents the Board of Elections from declaring a winner in the election; however, it stated that Griffin's appeal should follow the normal process and go through Wake Superior Court first.

The order states that bypassing the lower courts would be an exceptional step.

High Court's Ruling

The Supreme Court voted 6-0 to have the Wake Superior Court review Griffin's case before any others. Riggs has requesed herself from the case.

Justice Anita Earls, the only Democrat involved in the case, disagreed with a portion of the order. She noted that the court should have released the stay on the Board of Elections so that they could certify the outcome.

“In maintaining the temporary stay, the Court prevents the Wake County Superior Court from deciding for itself whether Griffin is likely to succeed on the merits and whether a stay is justified—a decision which state law vests in that court specifically,” Earls wrote.

Multiple Avenues of Attack

Griffin's challenge to the election is proceeding along two different paths.

Next Monday, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments regarding whether or not the case should be tried in state court.

After Griffin filed his lawsuit in state court, the state Board of Elections had it removed to federal court. The federal court judge sent it back. Riggs and the Board of Elections appealed.

Following the state Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday, one of Griffin's attorneys suggested in a letter that the federal appeals court postpone “order supplemental briefing to address the impact of this new order on the merits of this appeal and this Court’s jurisdiction.”