On April 28, a three-judge panel issued an order in Gov. Roy Cooper’s legal challenge against Senate Bill 68 to put the law on hold until a further hearing on May 10.

The new law to combine state elections and ethics boards became law when the House and Senate voted to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of Senate Bill 68.

Senate Bill 68 was a renewed effort to revamp the boards after a three-judge panel ruled that the General Assembly overstepped its state constitutional authority when it adopted Senate Bill 4 in 2016 to establish a similar bipartisan board to oversee elections and ethics.

On April 25, lawmakers finalized efforts to combine state elections and ethics boards with both the House and Senate voting to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of Senate Bill 68.

The bill merges the elections and ethics boards into a single board split evenly between political parties.

The merger of the boards under Senate Bill 68 comes after a three-judge panel ruled that the General Assembly overstepped its state constitutional authority when it adopted Senate Bill 4 to establish a similar bipartisan board to oversee elections and consider ethics complaints and issues.

On February 28, the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that a three-judge panel did not have the authority to revive the two original boards after lawmakers had dissolved them with Senate Bill 4.

Gov. Roy Cooper is currently challenging Senate Bill 4 on the basis that the General Assembly overstepped its state constitutional authority when it adopted the law establishing an eight-member board to oversee elections and consider ethics complaints and issues.

Last month, the North Carolina Supreme Court blocked Senate Bill 4 from taking effect while the legal challenge against the law is pending. This latest ruling means there is not technically an Ethics Commission or Board of Elections. Gov. Cooper is expected to appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court, which could reestablish the boards.

Monday, the North Carolina Supreme Court issued an order blocking Senate Bill 4 from taking effect while the legal challenge against the law is pending.

This order halts the merger to combine the State Board of Elections with the State Ethics Commission.

Gov. Roy Cooper is currently challenging Senate Bill 4 on the basis that the General Assembly overstepped its state constitutional authority when it adopted the law establishing an eight-member board to oversee elections and consider ethics complaints and issues.

On Thursday, a ruling from the North Carolina Court of Appeals overturned a lower court order that blocked Senate Bill 4 from taking effect while the legal challenge against the law was pending.

This allows the merger to go forward to combine the State Board of Elections with the State Ethics Commission.

Gov. Roy Cooper appealed this ruling today to the state Supreme Court.

Last week, a panel of three judges granted Gov. Roy Cooper’s request for the state to temporarily refrain from overhauling the elections board until his active lawsuit is resolved.

Cooper proposed the constitutional separation of powers are overlooked in a new General Assembly law.

If Cooper fails to win the suit, and the law is not overturned, the five-member state Board of Elections will be reorganized into a team of eight under the state Ethics Commission.

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.