A federal appeals panel exchanged arguments Monday with lawyers over a still-unresolved November election for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat, immersed in jurisdictional questions over which courts should determine whether roughly 66,

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.

The N.C. Supreme Court is weighing whether to toss out more than 60,000 ballots cast in the race for a seat on that tribunal. That race is the last uncertified statewide contest in the nation.