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,

Monday’s arguments will center on whether the case should be decided by state or federal courts — a decision which could be crucial in whether the results of the race are ultimately overturned.

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.