RALEIGH, N.C. — A lawsuit challenging requirements for third parties to get on North Carolina ballots likely will be heard again after a split decision by the state Court of Appeals.

Two of the three judges who heard the case upheld state law Tuesday that a group must collect tens of thousands of signatures to get on the ballot. A third judge said the rules are unconstitutional.

The 2-1 decision means the state Supreme Court would take the case if attorneys for the Libertarian and Green parties asked them to do so.

The Libertarian Party had to collect nearly 70,000 signatures to get on the ballot in 2008. If its gubernatorial candidate had failed to receive 2 percent of the statewide vote, the petition process would have started over for 2012.