SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court is declining to hear the Utah Republican Party's challenge to a state law overhauling how political parties nominate candidates.

The Monday decision halts the long court battle over the law allowing candidates to bypass GOP nominating conventions and instead gather signatures to participate in a primary.

Utah's GOP argued the 2014 law violated their Frist Amendment right to choose candidates as they saw fit.

But the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed, finding it balances the state's interest in managing elections while allowing political parties and residents a way to express their political choices.

Opponents of the law could now turn to the Legislature. Republican Sen. Dan McCay considered sponsoring a proposal to change the law this year, but decided to wait until the court battle was done.