GREENSBORO, N.C. — A voter ID law and another election map were struck down by our state supreme court Friday.
The justices rejected district lines for the state senate and sent back a voter-approved voter ID law.
The two major rulings come just before the court will flip from majority Democrat to majority Republican.
WFMY News 2's Grace Holland talked to a political expert in the Triad about what these rulings mean and why the fight likely isn't over.
A democrat majority of state Supreme Court justices issued these rulings for similar reasons. They said both the state senate map and the voter ID law would create a republican advantage in elections.
The voter ID case has to do with a 2018 law that required showing identification before casting your ballot.
Justices ruled against the law saying it unfairly targets black voters, who tend to vote Democrat.
Elon University political science professor Dr. Jason Husser said neither of these issues are going away.
"These fights matter in terms of substantive outcome and they also matter symbolically to people a lot because how elections a lot it's pretty fundamental to how democracy works," Husser said.
Here are a couple of possible scenarios for what could happen next with voter ID. The General Assembly could write another voter ID law that is less restrictive.
Republican lawmakers could also wait for a couple of changes on the horizon.
A majority Republican state Supreme Court will be sworn in next month. This means that Republican lawmakers could try to get these same issues before this new court.
"Because the court is different and so the various attorneys involved in anything to the outcome. Those take time to get through the judicial system," Husser said.
There's also a case before the U.S. Supreme Court that could give state legislators more power to regulate elections. If that happens, it could affect these cases.
Another key decision Friday was the next steps for Winston-Salem's confederate monument. The case will go back to a lower court.
The justices decided the United Daughters of the Confederacy failed to prove they own the statue and failed to prove they were even a real organization operating in Winston-Salem.
The statue used to sit outside the old courthouse. The city took it down three years ago.
Right now, it's in storage. Mayor Allen Joines suggested moving it to Salem Cemetery where confederate soldiers are buried. For now, the city doesn't have any concrete plans.