The North Carolina Republican Party on Friday threatened to sue a county's elections board for not allowing a full access to absentee ballots as the battle continues to rage over the state gubernatorial election.

"Durham County continues to put barriers up to prevent the public from viewing the absentee ballot signatures," North Carolina GOP Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse said in a statement

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"Hence, we are left to believe that they are hiding something from North Carolina Republicans with malicious intent. As a result, we have no other choice than to plan on suing Durham County for evading public records request," he added.

The state GOP said the Durham County Board of Elections agreed to allow access to voter absentee ballots, but proceeded to "shut down the whole operation and told our volunteers that they would not be able to come back and finish."

The North Carolina Board of Elections on Wednesday ordered a partial recount in Durham County, in an attempt to find a decisive winner of the hotly contested governor race.

The Durham County Board of Elections on Friday called the order " unreasonable " and requested an extension.

Gov. Pat McCrory (R) trails Democrat Roy Cooper by just over 10,000 votes, according to ABC-11's Jonah Kaplan , but McCrory has refused to concede the race.

The state GOP criticized the county for its handling of the situation, saying it is opening itself up "to serious criminal and civil action." He also added that the goal of the potential lawsuit would be to shift control of the election process to the State Board.

"They have willfully and proudly violated the law for nearly a month, and are opening themselves up to serious criminal and civil action. This must stop at once. We demand access to the absentee ballot envelopes in Durham County immediately, or we will sue for access and request that the State Board take over all election operations in Durham in accordance with state law," Woodhouse said.