Thursday 30 June 2022 09:42 PM Supreme Court to review election law case that could have huge implications for ... trends now
View
comments
The Supreme Court will hear a case that could potentially give state legislatures virtually unchecked power over how they run their elections, it was announced on Thursday.
A decision bears potentially massive implications for the upcoming presidential race.
The case, Moore v. Harper, is focused on North Carolina Republican lawmakers' controversial redistricting efforts.
They're seeking to reinstate a proposed Congressional map that was thrown out by multiple North Carolina courts for violating state gerrymandering laws.
But despite that the high court's 5-3 conservative majority court said it will take up Moore, which will test the 'Independent State Legislature Doctrine' - a theory favored by right-wing legal scholars and Constitutional originalists.
It's an interpretation of the US Constitution where a state's legislative branch is free to buck the judicial and executive branches in enacting new election laws.
In its most extreme form, the doctrine would allow an elected state legislature to operate elections with impunity to their state laws.
More likely, state courts stand to lose the power to override legislatures' Congressional map proposals on civil rights grounds or other interpreted violations of a state constitution.