NC Supreme Court keeps lottery law in place

RALEIGH — The North Carolina Education Lottery can still operate after the state Supreme Court deadlocked over whether the votes creating the games were lawful.

Three of the seven justices agreed Friday the lottery law was unconstitutional and three others upheld the law. A seventh justice had rescued himself from the case and did not vote.

The 3-3 decision means a lower court ruling that rejected the claim challenging the law remains in place.

Taxpayers and advocacy groups sued before the first tickets were sold in March 2006, arguing that the General Assembly didn’t pass the lottery legislation properly in 2005. They said the state constitution required the House and Senate to each hold two separate votes on separate days. Each chamber only took one day.

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