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North Carolina’s elections board has dismissed protests filed by several Republican candidates trailing narrowly in their races last month who have questioned well over 60,000 ballots cast this fall. The Democratic-majority board agreed Wednesday to throw out the protests of GOP Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin and three legislative candidates.

Republican Jefferson Griffin has filed protests challenging more than 60,000 ballots in the race for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court, in which he currently trails Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs by 625 votes

If the margin in a race for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court remains below 8,000 votes, the runner-up could demand a recount.

The 2024 presidential contest and other major political races are coming to a climax; North Carolina sits among the most contested of battleground states as the final votes are cast.

North Carolina elections officials say that more than 4.2 million voters cast ballots at early in-person voting sites, with turnout in western counties hit by Hurricane Helene outpacing the rest of the state.

As of Friday, more than 4 million, or 51%, of North Carolina's registered voters had already cast ballots by mail or in-person during the early voting period, which ends Saturday, Nov. 2 at 3 p.m.

Republicans sued to remove approximately 225,000 voters from North Carolina's rolls and to block some overseas voters from casting ballots.

In North Carolina, litigation and elections tend to go hand in hand.

North Carolina election officials won't know until later this week whether some in-person early voting sites in areas hit by Helene need to be relocated.

The FBI is investigating what it calls a "series of suspicious mailings sent to election officials in several states," including North Carolina.