A panel of judges on the North Carolina Superior Court granted a preliminary injunction to Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) blocking a law that seeks to change how election boards are appointed in the state.

The law, passed earlier this year by GOP supermajorities in the state legislature, would give the legislature the authority to select election board members, rather than the governor. The court ruled on Thursday in favor of the injunction after a 90-minute hearing, according to the Associated Press.

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Cooper, who had his veto of the law overridden and brought the lawsuit challenging its legality, celebrated the court's decision in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday.

"Administering fair, secure elections is critical for our democracy and the courts have repeatedly found that partisan legislative attempts to take over the State Board of Elections are unconstitutional," he said.

The law seeks to change the board's makeup from five governor appointees, with three from the executive's party, to eight members appointed by the legislature based on the suggestions from top party officials in the state legislature.

The new formula for the board's makeup would likely create an even split between Republicans and Democrats. A spokesperson for Republican state Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, who was named in the lawsuit, said the effort was Cooper's way of keeping Democratic control of the election board, rather than a bipartisan split.

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“The legislature voted to make the State Board of Elections a truly bipartisan board with an equal number of Democrats and Republicans. Gov. Cooper sued to have it controlled by only Democrats,” the spokesperson told the outlet.

North Carolina is expected to be one of the key swing states in the presidential election next year, with the governor's mansion also up for grabs in the 2024 election in the state. Cooper is term-limited, meaning the race between the GOP and Democrats for the governorship is expected to be highly competitive.