North Carolina’s Supreme Court has ruled that tens of thousands of cast ballots challenged by the trailing candidate in November’s election for a seat on the court must remain in the election count

A North Carolina appeals court on Friday sided with a Republican candidate for a seat on the state's top court who is contesting the results of last November's election by finding that thousands of the ballots cast should not be counted unless voters can swiftly fix issues with their voter registration.

The number of ballots in question exceeds the slim margin by which the Democratic incumbent won, potentially leading to the November election being overturned.