After trailing by more than 10,000 votes on election night, Democratic North Carolina State Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs pulled off an unexpected victory by 734 votes after absentee and provisional ballots were counted and the results were affirmed by two recounts, including a hand count completed on Tuesday. “Let this race serve as a reminder that every vote counts,” said North Carolina Democratic Party chair Anderson Clayton. But the election has yet to be certified because Riggs’ GOP opponent, Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin, has challenged the validity of more than 60,000 ballots, including those of Riggs’ parents. “The scale of this should be deeply troubling to anyone who has any respect for the rule of law,” Riggs told me on Wednesday.