Supreme Court rejects unchecked state legislature power over federal election rules
The 6-3 opinion repudiated much of the "independent state legislature" theory. The Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered a strong rejection of a controversial legal theory that threatened to upend state election laws nationwide and give state legislatures unchecked power over federal election rules in the case Moore v. Harper. In a 6-3 decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court sided with a group of North Carolina voters who challenged an attempt by state Republican lawmakers to circumvent a state court decision that struck down a new gerrymandered election map. Roberts was joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. MORE: Supreme Court hears extraordinary bid to upend election laws, casts skeptical eye At the heart of the case was a fringe legal concept dubbed the "independent state legislature" theory, which contends the Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution provides state ...
