Blue state judges and liberal bureaucrats received massive criticism for cluttering their states with drop-boxes and accepting mail-in ballots throughout the 2020 election without approval from legislators. The Supreme Court is poised to stop them from doing it once again in 2024.
The justices revealed on June 30th that they will hear a case later this year including the “independent state legislature theory,” which holds that state legislators alone manage election treatments and redistricting. The news stimulated conservative groups who state administrative playing with district lines and election laws are ruining public self-confidence in the political procedure.
“Dark money-fueled left-wing lawyers have misused the courts to manipulate election laws and undermine commonsense voting safeguards for political gain,” the Honest Election Project’s Jason Snead said. “The Supreme Court now has the chance to uphold the Constitution and ensure that future elections have safeguards that make it easier to vote and harder to cheat.”
The justices entered a heated argument by taking the case. Late modifications to election procedures formed much of the basis for President Donald Trump’s assertions that Democrats stole the 2020 election. For their part, Democrats see the case as yet another attack on ballot rights, and a quote to insulate pro-gerrymandering legislators from the judicial analysis.
The Constitution provides that the “time, place, and manner” of elections will be “prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof.” The 2nd guideline with comparable language governs the choice of presidential electors. On that basis, Republican legal representatives state each state legislature has the last word on election guidelines, such as citizen ID laws or absentee balloting, in addition to the decennial redistricting procedure. Neither state courts nor state agencies can interfere.
The case the Court took Thursday originates from North Carolina, where the state supreme court reserved a congressional district map state legislators crafted and enforced its own, which is friendlier to Democrats. Republican leaders in North Carolina’s statehouse appealed to the Supreme Court and mentioned that disagreements about election policy afflicted the last election.
Ahead of the 2020 election, judges and bureaucrats throughout the nation refashioned election guidelines by themselves, pointing out the pandemic as the reason. They suspended witness signature requirements for absentee ballots in South Carolina, unwinded due dates for mail-in tallies in Minnesota, developed universal vote-by-mail in California, and licensed drop boxes in Pennsylvania, all without input from legislators.
“The question presented in this case, at root, is who is vested with the power to decide the when, what, where, and how of the American people’s exercise of self-government,” the North Carolina GOP’s petition reads.
A triumph for North Carolina Republicans would have instant nationwide implications. Republicans lead 30 statehouses, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, and would be placed to quickly carry out long-sought modifications to voting guidelines without opposition from other branches of state and federal government. They would likewise remain firmly in control of redistricting.
Leading GOP entities like the RNC, the party’s congressional campaign arm, submitted an amicus brief supporting North Carolina Republicans.
The Court’s conservatives have signified their sympathetic view with the independent legislature position. In March, North Carolina Republicans asked the justices for an emergency order renewing the legislature-drawn district lines. The High Court declined that demand. In a ruling accompanying the order, Justice Samuel Alito stated the Court will be required to weigh in– and the earlier the much better.
“If the language of the Elections Clause is taken seriously, there must be some limit on the authority of state courts to countermand actions taken by state legislatures when they are prescribing rules for the conduct of federal elections,” Alito wrote. Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch joined the opinion. Justice Brett Kavanaugh has expressed similar views.
Critics counter that independent legislature teaching is hostile to states’ rights. Each state has laws and constitutional arrangements which ensure ballot rights. Administrators and state courts implement those laws to safeguard the political procedure. If the Supreme Court opportunities the legislature over state constitutions and other branches of federal government, critics state, it will weaken federalism.
The concept that legislatures have uncontrolled power over elections was central to Trump’s push to reverse election accreditation in a number of states. A coterie of outdoors followers prompted Republican legislators in battlefield states to overlook the election results and choose pro-Trump electors, mentioning the untried independent legislature teaching.
It is far from apparent that statehouse primacy on election guidelines empowers legislators to disregard the will of individuals. Progressives nevertheless cast Thursday’s grant as an indication the High Court will assist Republicans cheat in 2024.
“We are witnessing a judicial coup in process,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) wrote on Twitter.
H/T The Washington Free Beacon
