This case could have a major impact on election integrity and voting reforms. Let’s pray that God would guide this case as the arguments are heard.
From Fox News. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a congressional redistricting case out of North Carolina that experts argue could give additional influence to state courts over federal election proceedings by taking on the role of a “super legislature.”
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At issue is a constitutional dispute over the power of state courts to regulate federal elections, including overriding gerrymandered redistricting maps. Some state lawmakers are seeking a favorable interpretation of the “independent state legislature” (ISL) theory, asking for near-total control over federal elections regulation of the president and members of Congress.
A ruling from the high court could affect voting boundaries, mail-in and absentee ballots, voter ID requirements, as well as vote-counting and vote certification laws in the 2024 election and beyond.
“I think this is one of the most partisan moves by a state Supreme Court ever seen,” Hans von Spakovsky, Election Law Reform Initiative manager and senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. “Partisan redistricting has been going on in this country since we became a country, and it’s been going on in North Carolina since it became a state.”
The case, Moore v. Harper, originally stems from a previous court ruling that threw out GOP-drawn congressional maps first submitted in November 2021 after North Carolina saw the addition of its 14th congressional seat. The maps were deemed unconstitutional by a majority Democrat State Supreme Court, with the GOP maps seemingly giving the Republican-led legislature an advantage in the state’s 14 congressional districts. …
The GOP legislature is now asking the Supreme Court to invoke the ISL doctrine, which hinges on the interpretation of the Constitution to mean that state legislatures have “plenary” or unqualified authority to decide how elections are conducted, absent almost any state judicial review.
Article 1 of the Constitution reads, “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof.” …
GOP advocates argue the case could have implications on the security of elections nationwide, as a decision siding with the North Carolina Supreme Court could give additional authority to state and federal courts to intervene in future election proceedings. Von Spakovsky said such a decision could lead to “anti-democratic” elections, with citizens looking to state and federal courts to “interfere with the rules, the laws, the regulations and the redistricting decisions of state legislatures” with little to no “checks” on judges.
“The state Supreme Court basically acting not like a court, as if it’s a super legislature who can overturn the legislature’s drawing of the boundary lines of congressional districts,” von Spakovsky said.
However, many on the other side of the aisle view the independent state legislature doctrine as too broad, arguing the end result could negatively affect democracy as a whole and open the door to further gerrymandering in a political climate with low voter trust. …
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(Excerpt from Fox News. Photo Credit: Adam Szuscik on Unsplash)