In his 68-page ruling, Myers said Griffin and the NC GOP's unprecedented effort to challenge over 65,000 ballots presented an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote.

"This case concerns whether the federal Constitution permits a state to alter the rules of an election after the fact and apply those changes retroactively to only a select group of voters, and in so doing treat those voters differently than other similarly situated individuals," he wrote. "This case is also about whether a state may redefine its class of eligible voters but offer no process to those who may have been misclassified as ineligible.

"To this court, the answer to each of those questions is no.'"

The sole Republican judge to defend the rule of law in North Carolina is Republican Justice Richard Dietz, who has remained steadfast in his belief that rewriting the rules of an election after the election is unlawful and unwise. Resisting the pressures of partisanship in North Carolina is no easy feat these days, and his courage should be commended.

Outside of North Carolina, however, Griffin's crusade is over. North Carolina may be a state where Republicans get to do whatever they want to do, but federal judges aren't willing to participate in what is essentially a judicial coup. Griffin can appeal this ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals, but they shouldn't expect a different result there. That court has already ruled against the argument once.

It's yet another reminder of how baldly and awfully partisan judges in North Carolina have become. The depth and diversity of people who know this lawsuit has no merit is incredible. It includes voters from both parties, elections officials of all political stripes, military leaders and hundreds of judges, government officials and attorneys from across the political spectrum. Now, a Trump-appointed federal judge has agreed. It's North Carolina's Republican judges who are the extreme outliers.

Republicans cannot lament a rogue judiciary or overreach by "radical left judges." They cannot accuse the judge who issued the ruling of partisan bias, although they may still try. This is a conservative judge, appointed by Donald Trump. He is a member of the conservative Federalist Society and the National Rifle Association. It's exactly the kind of judge Republicans would hope " or expect " to side with them. But he isn't " he's rebuking Republican logic and laying bare their attempt to steal an election.