The contentious race for the 99th Assembly District went from the courts to the voter booths Tuesday.

An appellate court ruling put incumbent Willis Stephens? name back on the ballot for the Conservative and Independent parties. Republican candidate Greg Ball fears that could hurt his chances in his fight against Democrat Ken Harper.

In September, Stephens lost the GOP nomination to Ball. Using a loophole in state election law, Stephens accepted a judicial nomination in Queens, so his name could be removed from the Conservative and Independent Party tickets. Those nominations then went to Ball.

Harper went to court to get Stephens' name back on the ballot and an appeals court agreed. On Monday, a judge blocked the election because Stephens? name was not on absentee and other paper ballots. Another judge later ordered the election to proceed with Stephens as the Conservative and Independent Party candidate. That set up the three-way race Stephens and Ball had been trying to avoid, and now Ball is crying foul. Ball says regardless of the outcome, he wants to ask for a special election. He says forcing Stephens on the ballot is breaking the state constitution.

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