The North Carolina Supreme Court rejected an effort from Republican Jefferson Griffin to expedite his appeal to toss out more than 60,000 ballots in a hotly contested judicial race. The state’s high court ruled that Griffin must have his appeal through Wake County Superior Court before it can be considered by the state Supreme Court.

The North Carolina Supreme Court dismissed on Wednesday a request by the trailing candidate in an extremely close race for a seat on this same court to rule now on whether well over 60,000 ballots should be removed from the tally.