The city attorney has issued a decision that could dramatically improve San Diego Unified school board member Luis Acle's chances of reelection.

The office concluded that the top two vote-getters in the District D primary election for the San Diego Unified school board will advance to a runoff in the November election and have their name printed on the ballot, regardless of how many votes they garner.

Confused? Here's what I wrote in April about the legal question looming over the school board race:

The answer to a surprisingly messy question about local election laws could revive the troubled school board campaign of incumbent Luis Acle, pulling his name onto the November ballot. Acle may run a write-in campaign that, according to one law, would only need to earn a small number of votes to get him a spot on the November ballot. Another law would force a write-in candidate to receive much more support to give a candidate a spot on the final ballot. How the conflict between them is resolved could catapult Acle from the faint prospects of a write-in candidate to the relatively plum position of an incumbent listed on the ballot.

To run as a write-in candidate, Acle must garner 200 valid signatures by May 20. Read the full decision here.

— EMILY ALPERT