Source: The Washington Post / Getty
CNN reports that the U.S. Supreme Court, on Tuesday, ruled that the North Carolina Supreme Court did not violate the Constitution’s elections clause by invalidating the state’s 2022 congressional map.
This ruling rejects a broad version of the controversial “Independent State Legislature” theory pushed by supporters of former President Donald Trump. Republican lawmakers in NC were asking the justices to adopt the theory, which would allow state lawmakers to have the ultimate power to regulate federal elections.
Had the theory been accepted in its most extreme application, according to ABC11, it would have had a major impact on how congressional maps are drawn and how voting rules are written.
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Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the 6-3 opinion, “State courts retain the authority to apply state constitutional restraints when legislatures act under the power conferred upon them by the Elections Clause.”
The court, however, did allow that federal courts can help supervise state courts in certain cases, with Roberts writing that “state courts do not have free rein.”
“Federal courts,” Roberts said, “must not abandon their duty to exercise judicial review.”
This is a developing story.
