A Richmond judge will decide whether to allow a charitable gaming group to challenge the constitutionality of the city’s selection of a casino operator and potentially prevent a planned vote on whether to have a casino in the Nov. 7 general election.

Chief Circuit Court Judge William R. Marchant on Tuesday temporarily suspended his July 25 order putting the casino issue on the ballot while he considers whether to allow Richmond-based Good Lions to intervene.

He said he would issue his decision next Wednesday, Aug. 23.

Among the key issues the judge said he is weighing is whether Good Lions has standing or is legally entitled to challenge the city’s action and whether a legal challenge to his order is ap- propriate, rather than a separate lawsuit.

He issued the suspension on the 21st day after he signed the order, the last day before it would become final. Under state Supreme Court rules, lower courts lose jurisdiction over cases after three weeks have passed.

Good Lions, which raises money for charity by operating bingo games in South Side and views the casino as a threat to its revenue, filed its request to intervene last Friday, just a few days before the 21-day deadline.

The charity’s main claim, according to attorney Christopher T. Robertson, is that the referendum order Judge Marchant issued is invalid because City Council violated the state constitution by choosing a casino operator without first seeking competitive bids for the lucrative franchise as required.

Richmond political strategist Paul Goldman first broached that point, and the charity picked up his argument.

Mr. Robertson told Judge Marchant the charity is not challenging the rest of the process that led to the judge’s order.

Wirt P. Marks, a senior assistant city attorney, responded at the hearing that the city does not believe the state constitutional provision the charity is citing applies in this case as city property is not involved.

Mr. Marks also argued that the city met all of the statutory requirements to secure the court order, that the charity lacks standing and that any constitutional challenge should be brought in a separate lawsuit.

The potential for a constitutional challenge began in June after the council backed Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s recommendation for a new no-bid award to RVA Entertainment Holdings LLC, a joint venture that includes Maryland-based Black radio and media company Urban One and Kentucky-based horse racing giant Churchill Downs.

Two years ago, Urban One, which then reported it would solely own RVA Entertainment Holdings, first won council’s endorsement after a competitive bid process, though city voters narrowly rejected in a November vote that year the casino Urban One proposed to go on 100 acres of land at the Bells Road interchange of Interstate 95.

Blocked by the General Assembly from holding a second referendum in 2022 when RVA Entertainment also was the city’s choice, Mayor Stoney and the council came back this year for another attempt at securing approval for a casino at the Bells Road site from a majority of voters.