A major U.S. Supreme Court ruling that rejects the most extreme version of a once-fringe legal theory has eased the anxiety of many election watchers across the country.
In a 6-3 opinion from an unusual lineup of both conservative and liberal justices, the court’s majority confirmed Tuesday that — contrary to what’s known as the “independent state legislature theory” — state lawmakers’ power under the U.S. Constitution to control how congressional elections are run can be checked and balanced by state courts and state constitutions.
With 2024 looming, here’s what the high court’s ruling means for upcoming elections:
The ruling brings some stability to the 2024 elections
As the justices considered this theory in the lawsuit known as Moore v. Harper, many legal scholars warned that the court’s endorsement of it could threaten to upend the country’s decentralized election system, which is mainly run by state and local officials.
A ruling that sided with the Republican North Carolina state lawmakers who brought the case could have spurred second-guessing of past state court rulings that have interpreted state laws to determine how states should conduct their elections for all levels of government.
“There would have been a possibility of different rules for state and federal elections, even under the same law,” explains Carolyn Shapiro, a professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law who has written about the theory’s origins and submitted a friend-of-the-court brief against the theory. “So there would have been enormous chaos.”
Instead, election workers can now move forward with more certainty that they’re carrying out their…
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