The North Carolina Supreme Court temporarily paused a ruling that favored Jefferson Griffin's bid to discard 65,000 votes in his election race against Allison Riggs.

The North Carolina Supreme Court on Monday put on hold an appellate court's decision that gave more than 60,000 voters just 15 days to establish their voting eligibility or have the ballots they cast last fall in a close race for a seat on the state's high court thrown out.

The ruling concerns November's Supreme Court race between Democratic incumbent Justice Allison Riggs and GOP Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin.