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RALEIGH (AP) -- The state Legislature used a correct procedure in 2005 when it approved a bill that created North Carolina's lottery, according to a divided ruling by the state Court of Appeals that keeps the issue alive.

Two of the panel's three judges rejected arguments from taxpayers and others who sued the state and elected officials about how the bill cleared the House and Senate.

The plaintiffs argued that each chamber should have been forced to vote twice on separate days because the bill generated money for the state. Instead, each chamber approved the creation of the North Carolina Education Lottery in one day. The lottery began selling tickets in March 2006.

The majority of the court said the bill didn't meet the constitutional requirements of a "revenue bill," which can include legislation that raises traditional taxes, Judge Jim Wynn wrote in the majority opinion. The ruling upholds a lower court decision.

"While we agree that the lottery is unquestionably intended and designed to raise revenue, we find that this purpose does not transform such revenue into a tax," Wynn wrote.

Wynn likened purchasing lottery tickets to a motorist paying to use a toll road, since both create revenues but citizens aren't forced by the state to participate.

"Unlike the compulsory nature of a tax, a toll and participation in the lottery are activities freely undertaken by citizens of their own volition," he added in the opinion, which was joined by Judge Bob Hunter.

In a dissenting opinion, Judge Ann Marie Calabria sided with the plaintiffs, creating a split decision that gives the plaintiffs an automatic appeal to the state Supreme Court if they request one.

Calabria said the General Assembly should be forced to revote on the lottery if it chooses to keep the games operating. But she said the revenues created for education — more than $500 million to date — should not be returned or refunded.

"While there is nothing in our state's constitution prohibiting the enactment of a lottery, such an act must, as all our laws must, follow constitutional commands," Calabria wrote.

Tuesday's ruling highlights some candidates in this year's gubernatorial elections.

Former Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, a Republican candidate for governor, represents the taxpayers and two conservative groups that sued. And Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, who is seeking the Democratic nomination, cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate to approve the lottery in August 2005.