A spokeswoman for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said the ruling “simply means that the case will continue.”

The appeals court ruling rejected assertions that the state election officials have immunity. The court also found that it didn't have jurisdiction at this point in the case to address claims that the plaintiffs lack standing to sue.

The case now returns to Judge Totenberg’s court, where Cross said he will seek to move quickly toward a trial.

Meanwhile, the Georgia General Assembly is considering buying a new voting system. Options include touchscreens that print paper ballots, or paper ballots that voters bubble in by hand. Both systems would use optical scanning machines to tabulate votes.

“The Secretary of State’s Office encourages legislators as they create a bill to consider all possible risks that could potentially be associated with any new voting systems,” said Tess Hammock, a spokeswoman for Raffensperger.