A three judge state court, on remand from the NC Supreme Court, unanimously held that the changes to the Election board rules came up as a nonjusticiable political question, meaning the courts were without the power to reach the merits. In the alternative, the lower court held that the changes to the composition of the elections board did not violate the separation of powers guaranteed by the state constitution.

The issue will now be appealed to the state Supreme Court, where Democratic judges outnumber Republican judges. These changes were put in place by the NC General Assembly just as a Democrat was elected governor, so as to weaken the governor’s appointment powers over the elections board.