States Newsroom/Pennsylvania Capital-Star: U.S. Supreme Court to consider case that could radically reshape the country’s elections

The U.S. Supreme Court could soon grant state legislatures unconditional control over federal elections, clearing the way for lawmakers to gerrymander their states with impunity and pass voter restriction measures without interference from state courts.

The high-stakes election case, Moore v. Harper, comes out of North Carolina after its Republican-controlled legislature passed in November 2021 a gerrymandered redistricting map, which gave Republicans a big advantage in U.S. House seats.

If the nation’s highest court rules in favor of allowing the gerrymandered map, it may do so based on a novel argument — the so-called independent state legislature theory — that would also allow legislatures to enact laws to make it harder to vote in federal elections without review from state courts. Legislatures could shorten the early voting period, restrict mail-in balloting to certain counties and require voter ID, among other measures.

The ramifications could be far-reaching: A heavily partisan and already gerrymandered state legislature — as in Pennsylvania — could put its thumb on the scale without having to worry about a state court interfering, thus ensuring big victories for their party in congressional elections and locking in rule.

“Our government will be run by and for the politicians, not the people,” said Suzanne Almeida, Common Cause’s director of state operations, during a Wednesday conference call with reporters. “The danger is not just that partisan political leaders will handpick winners and losers … It’s that we the people will no longer have a fully representative government.” …

Voting rights activists are pushing to make the case more well-known, hoping the public will reject a wholesale takeover of election administration by state legislatures, which are often more concerned with the accumulation of power than free and fair elections. Common Cause has members on the ground in North Carolina to inform people about the case and how their vote may be at stake if the U.S. Supreme Court rules in line with the independent state legislature theory.