A federal appeals panel has heard arguments involving a still-unresolved November election for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat.

The election battle between a sitting North Carolina Supreme Court justice and her Republican challenger ran into a panel of federal judges Monday concerned that their ruling could welcome a new wave of election litigation.

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 a pivotal hearing in the North Carolina Supreme Court elections case, the lawyer representing the state Board of Elections faced a barrage of questions from a federal court of appeals judge about the appropriateness of calling back to federal court a case that the state Supreme Court had acted on.