Well, after striking down commonsense voter ID laws in the state of North Carolina, and a host of other moves the court has engaged in, it looks like Republicans may have won one.

A federal judge said Monday that she sees insufficient evidence that North Carolina Republicans and presidential candidate Donald Trump want supporters to intimidate minorities on Election Day, but she’ll keep an eye on whether there’s a coordinated effort to dissuade voters from casting ballots.

“These are difficult times,” U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles said after an hour long hearing into a lawsuit North Carolina’s Democratic Party filed last week.

The lawsuit is similar to cases in five other crucial swing states that could decide whether Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton become the next president.

The gist of the case lies with Trump’s ridiculous claims of a “rigged” vote.

There’s no real proof that the fix is in, and it sets a really dangerous, irresponsible mood to have a party nominee promoting that to his supporters.

Of course, where there is smut, there is Roger Stone.

North Carolina Democrats asked the judge to block what they claim is a “coordinated campaign of vigilante voter intimidation” involving the state Republican Party; Donald Trump’s presidential campaign; informal Trump adviser Roger Stone; and Stone’s political organization, Stop the Steal, which plans to monitor polling places.

Stone has said Trump-supporting volunteers plan to watch polls in nine U.S. cities, including Charlotte and Fayetteville. Democrats contend that’s aimed at intimidating minority voters.

Dawn Smalls, an attorney for North Carolina Democrats, claims Trump and Stone have used bogus claims of voter fraud to stir up supporters in an effort to keep black and Hispanic voters from voting. Though it’s lawful for anyone to observe polling places and speak to voters coming and going, Trump and Stone have urged untrained volunteers to watch for signs they interpret to be voter fraud in cities with high minority populations, Smalls told Eagles.

“We’re not in a normal election year.” Smalls said. There are “concerted efforts to make people feel insecure at the polls.”

But Eagles said she didn’t see strong evidence that Trump’s campaign or the others targeted by Democrats were involved in plans that warranted extraordinary legal measures.

Yeah. It’s not like they’re dressed in their Black Panther Party militant gear and holding metal pipes at the doorway to polling places.

The director of the State Board of Elections said last week that the U.S. Justice Department will send monitors to four counties: Cumberland, Forsyth, Robeson and Wake.

Hopefully, that will be all that’s needed to keep things on the level, and trouble down.