prior to the election, in october 2018, a state court had ruled that north carolina's nine-member state board of elections was unconstitutional due to changes made by the state legislature in 2017. the court allowed the election board to continue operating during the election and subsequent fraud investigation. on december 28, in an unexpected decision, the court dissolved the election board, before it had certified election results, accusing the board of ignoring court instructions. this left the state without certified election results and without an elections board until january 31, 2019, when a new, five-member board was to be seated under a new law taking effect.