RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Voters in a North Carolina town may lose their town hall as a future site to cast ballots unless leaders take down Black Lives Matter flags hanging above the building’s entrance, state election officials said Monday.

A statement from the N.C. State Board of Elections on Monday said it is too late to shut down Carrboro Town Hall’s polling place for Tuesday’s election. But the board said if the town does not take the four flags down, the state will take steps to make sure Town Hall isn’t used for voting again “without written assurances from town officials that the flags or other communication will not be present inside the buffer zone or voting enclosure during voting.”

Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle said through a spokeswoman that she would wait until Wednesday to discuss the town's decision to keep the flags flying.

In its statement, the elections board said it must remain neutral and “address any circumstances where voters feel intimidated or uncomfortable exercising their constitutional right to vote.” But state law requires voters to be notified about a polling place change at least 30 days before the election.

The state had asked the town to remove the flags last week after getting complaints from some voters and learning that more complaints had been filed with the state Republican Party. The town met in a closed session Thursday but took no official action, and the flags are still flying outside Town Hall. On Friday, the bipartisan Orange County Board of Election held an emergency meeting and voted unanimously to keep the polling place at Town Hall because of the disruption a move would cause the day before an election.

On Thursday, the Town Council decided after meeting with its attorney to keep the flags flying, according to town spokeswoman Catherine Lazorko. The town has flown the flags since July 20, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported.