Republican Judge Jefferson Griffin has conceded the North Carolina state Supreme Court election to Democratic Justice Allison Riggs. The decision ends months of legal challenges that prolonged the unresolved North Carolina contest since November.

A federal judge ordered North Carolina's election board on Monday to not throw out any ballots cast by voters in November in a close race for a seat on the state's Supreme Court and to certify a sitting Democratic justice's electoral victory.

Democrat Allison Riggs wins the North Carolina Supreme Court race, but the GOP scheme to overturn the election will do lasting damage to democracy.