RALEIGH, N.C. — The Republican candidate in the disputed North Carolina agriculture commissioner's race asked a judge Tuesday to block a new statewide election that has been ordered.

The race has been unsettled for more than two months because of a voting machine error that wiped out 4,438 ballots in one county. The race between Republican Steve Troxler and Democrat Britt Cobb was decided by a 2,287-vote margin.

The State Board of Elections ordered the new election last week because the number of missing ballots exceeded Troxler's margin.

Troxler wants the board to ask the 4,438 Carteret County voters whose ballots weren't recorded to revote to complete the election. The board had the power to do so, he argued.

In the appeal, Troxler's lawyers said the board broke a law that requires four members to approve a new election. Only three — all Democrats — voted for one Dec. 29.

"In the face of lawful alternative remedies, the board chose an unlawful one: an 'order' for a new statewide election without the consent of four of its members," Troxler attorney Marshall Hurley wrote.

Board chairman Larry Leake, a Democrat, has said the board was only amending its Nov. 30 order to set a special election for 18,500 potential voters in Carteret County. A judge rejected that idea and sent the order back to the board for another solution.

A new statewide election is the only resolution allowed under state law, Cobb has said. Cobb campaign spokesman Tim McKay said it's Troxler who cannot follow the rule of law.

"Mr. Troxler has said 'I will do anything I have to do to make sure I win this thing.' He has proved he will do just that," McKay said.