LEXINGTON — Republican Scott Keadle may get his hearing after all.

Davidson County Superior Court Judge Mark Klass has dissolved the injunction he placed on the Davidson County Board of Election’s plans to hold a hearing Friday. The board had called the hearing after Keadle challenged whether Democratic opponent Cal Cunningham meets the residency requirement to run for N.C. Sen. District 23.

On Friday, Klass said the injunction he ordered Oct. 9 “was premature and should be delayed” for reasons of “procedural technicalities.”

The original order, based on an appeal filed by Cunningham attorney Ted Royster Jr., barred the elections board from conducting the hearing until after the Nov. 7 election.

Davidson County Elections Director Ruth Huneycutt said the board was meeting this morning and would decide whether to hold the hearing Friday or reschedule it for a later time.

Keadle, Cunningham and Libertarian Larry Clark are running for the Senate seat now held by Democrat Jim Phillips, who is retiring. District 23 includes portions of Rowan, Iredell and Davidson counties.

“I look forward to the opportunity for the truth to be heard,” said Keadle, a Salisbury dentist. “It’s a shame they (Cunningham’s camp) attempted to delay this.”

Keadle’s Charlotte attorney, Stephen J. Dunn, has requested that the board proceed with the 8:30 a.m. hearing Friday, as originally scheduled.

“We think it would be unfair to Scott Keadle, and against the public interest, for the hearing to be delayed as a result of Mr. Cunningham’s dubious procedural tactics,” Dunn said in a letter to County Attorney Joe Biesecker.

Dunn said he expected the elections board to take the lead in “questioning witnesses and defining the scope of the inquiry.” Dunn acknowledged the board’s previous ruling that it has no jurisdiction in deciding whether Cunningham is constitutionally qualified to serve as a state senator.

“As we see it, the Oct. 20 hearing is for the sole purpose of determining whether Mr. Cunningham’s filings with the Board of Elections are accurate and complete,” Dunn said in his letter to Biesecker. “Specifically, we think the real issue is whether Cunningham lived where he said he lived at all relevant times.”

Keadle contends that Cunningham does not meet the requirement that he live in the Senate district for which he is running for at least a year before the general election. He questions Cunningham’s listing of 7 Canterbury Place (his parents’ Lexington home) as his home address when he registered to vote in Davidson County on Nov. 12, 1999.

Dunn said he believes Cunningham will be the only witness the board needs to answer questions Friday, and he suggested that the board subpoena Cunningham to appear, if he does not appear voluntarily.

“We are confident that we have enough evidence to convince the board that this matter should be referred to the state Board of Elections, whether Mr. Cunningham testifies or not,” Dunn added.

On Oct. 6, the Davidson County Board of Elections decided that, based on the N.C. Constitution, only the N.C. Senate has the authority to determine whether a person is qualified to serve in the Senate.

But it also ruled that it had the statutory obligation to investigate “irregularities, non-performance of duties and violations of laws by election officers and other persons and to report violations to the state Board of Elections.”

That decision led to the board’s scheduling of the Oct. 20 hearing, based on Keadle’s allegations. Klass’ injunction followed, only to be rescinded by Klass later.

Cunningham says he meets the residency requirement. He has repeatedly described Keadle’s challenge of his residency as a non-issue meant to distract and confuse voters.

Despite having voted and lived in Orange County while attending undergraduate school and law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Cunningham says he always considered his parents’ home as his permanent address.

When Keadle first made his charges, Cunningham supplied the elections board with a stack of documents such as tax, school, military, banking and employment records, that showed 7 Canterbury Place as his address.

Cunningham and his wife now live on West Second Avenue, and Cunningham works for his father’s law office in Lexington.