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A county official in North Carolina said Monday that he will accept same-sex marriage applications despite a constitutional ban on gay marriage in the state.

Buncombe County Register of Deeds Drew Reisinger cited this year’s Supreme Court ruling striking down a key part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act in saying he’d accept and hold the licenses while he seeks approval to move forward from state Attorney General Roy Cooper.

“I have concerns about whether we are violating people’s civil rights based on this summer’s Supreme Court decision,” Reisinger said in a statement.

That ruling did not preempt states from enacting their own marriage restrictions.

Cooper, a Democrat and likely gubernatorial candidate in 2016, told the Associated Press over the weekend that he supports gay marriage, but his personal views will not prevent him from defending North Carolina’s 2012 state constitutional amendment banning same-sex unions.

[AP]