The U.S. Supreme Court.Photo: Alex Wong/Getty
In a 6-3 ruling in the case known asMoore v. Harper, the court ruled against Republicans in the North Carolina legislature who argued that the U.S. Constitution vests the authority to set the “time, place, and manner” of federal elections to state legislatures alone.
The case centered on a legislative theory that state legislatures have special powers to determine how federal elections are conducted — without any checks or balances from state constitutions or state courts.
If the court had sided with the North Carolina lawmakers, it could have drastically changed how congressional maps are drawn (and could have lead to more districts being gerrymandered to give one majority party control).
Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented.
In a statement posted on Twitter, former PresidentBarack Obamaapplauded the court’s decision.
“Today, the Supreme Court rejected the fringe independent state legislature theory that threatened to upend our democracy and dismantle our system of checks and balances,” Obama wrote. “This ruling rejects the far-right theory that threatened to undermine our democracy, and makes clear that courts can continue defending voters' rights—in North Carolina and in every state.”
Vice PresidentKamala Harrisalso weighed in, saying in a statement the decision “preserves state courts’ critical role in safeguarding elections and protecting the voice and the will of the American people.”
“We know that more work must to be done to protect the fundamental right to vote and to draw fair maps that reflect the diversity of our communities and our nation,” Harris added. “The President and I will keep fighting to secure access to the ballot box, but we cannot do this alone. We continue to call on Congress to do their part to protect voters and our democracy and pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.”
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The case had earlier been described as an “electoral bomb,” with the ACLU arguing that it could “radically reshape the workings of American government.”
“The theory claims that the state legislatures' power is so exclusive that they can ignore the requirements of their own state constitution,” the ACLU said.
In recent months, the court has decided a number of significant cases, includingone that limited the power of the EPAfor a second year in a row. Between now and June 30, a few major cases remain undecided — andrulingswill impact everything fromstudent debt reliefto LGBTQ+ discrimination.
source: people.com
