Today, Governor-elect Roy Cooper filed a legal challenge against Senate Bill 4. Wake County Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens agreed to block the law from taking effect while the lawsuit is pending.

Senate Bill 4 would have taken effect January 1, 2017, to merge the State Board of Elections with the State Ethics Commission and create a new eight-member board split evenly between Republicans and Democrats. The bill was passed by a Republican dominated legislature in an attempt to limit the power of the executive branch before newly elected Democrats take power.