HARRISBURG — The state’s highest court said Friday that it was deadlocked on whether to let voters consider a constitutional amendment to raise judges’ mandatory retirement age from 70 to 75, meaning the question will appear on the Nov. 8 ballot.

The Supreme Court voted 3-3 on a legal challenge by two of its own retired justices and a lawyer who had argued the reworded ballot would mislead voters into thinking they were imposing the state’s first age limit rather than giving judges five more years before they must step down.

“Neither plaintiffs nor the justices who support their position have cited any authority to conclude that a ballot question is misleading where it does not explain the effect of the proposed amendment, thereby affording this court the right to interfere with the submission of the challenged ballot question to the qualified electors of Pennsylvania,” wrote Justice Max Baer, who along with Justices Christine Donohue and Sallie Updyke Mundy favored throwing out the lawsuit.

Justice Debra Todd, joined by Justices David Wecht and Kevin Dougherty, called the ballot question “inherently misleading and ... well short of meeting the exacting standard which all ballot questions for the adoption of constitutional amendments must meet.” They would have issued an injunction against the ballot question.

Because they were tied, the matter reverts to where it was before the lawsuit was filed. A separate challenge to the case by three Democratic state senators had been rejected by the Commonwealth Court, and on Friday the high court upheld that decision with a brief order.

The proposed amendment has passed the Legislature in two consecutive sessions and was on track for a vote during the April primary when state lawmakers hastily passed a measure to invalidate the primary votes.