Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs, an appointed Democrat incumbent, now leads Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin by just 24 votes out of 5.7 million cast on Nov. 5, following Friday’s canvass of the election. With some counties’ votes still incomplete, the North Carolina State Board of Elections announced on Friday that the canvass process will continue into next week.

So far, the canvass has eroded the 10,000 vote lead that Griffin had after Election Day. The razor-thin margin currently separating the two candidates highlights the closely divided political dynamics of the state and the sway of heavily blue Wake County and Mecklenburg County.

According to the North Carolina State Board of elections, there were 65,103 provisional ballots cast in the general election, Wake County had the most provisional ballots in the state, with 6,262, followed by Mecklenburg with just over 5,000. Provisional ballots are cast in the event a voter can’t produce identification meeting the voter ID requirements implemented in 2023, and in the event of a voter moving without changing their address with the board of elections. Those provisional ballots were reviewed for eligibility and tallied by elections officials during the 10-day post-election canvass period, which was scheduled to end on Friday.

Given the slim margin, a recount remains a strong possibility. North Carolina law permits recounts when the difference between the top two candidates in a statewide race is fewer than 10,000 votes, or 0.5% or less of the total votes cast.

The election’s outcome will not change the Republican lean of the state’s high court, but is considered by some Democrats to be a first step in reclaiming the bench, which is currently five Republicans and two Democrats. The next seat on the NC Supreme Court to face voters will be Democratic Associate Justice Anti Earls’ in 2026.

Riggs was appointed to the state Supreme Court by Gov. Roy Cooper in September 2023 to replace Associate Justice Mike Morgan, who resigned to run in the Democratic primary for governor. Prior to that appointment, Cooper appointed Riggs to the North Carolina Court of Appeals in January 2023. Griffin has served on the Court of Appeals since winning election in 2020. Prior to that he was elected to be a District Court judge in Wake County in 2016.