In a lawsuit over ballot access laws in the state of Texas, minority political parties on one side and the state of Texas on the other both scored one victory and one defeat in a Monday court order.

The ruling means the defendants must keep fighting to defend the constitutionality of the state's ballot access laws for minor party and independent candidates, but also, the plaintiffs will have to meet a Dec. 9 deadline to pay filing fees or submit voter petitions if they want their candidates on the 2020 ballot.

Judge Robert Pitman of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in Austin denied the state defendants' request to dismiss the claims. But simultaneously, the court denied the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction to stop a new law that imposed on minor party candidates and independents the same requirements as Republicans or Democrats regarding paying filing fees or submitting a petition in lieu of paying filing fees.