Key Provision of Constitution in Play as Supreme Court Hears Election Case
9th December 2022
The state legislators, in what Justice Elena Kagan acknowledged is a “novel challenge,” are contesting the actions of the North Carolina Supreme Court. The lawmakers claim it is unconstitutional for state courts to override the decisions of state legislatures in passing election laws and drafting congressional maps that fully comply with all the requirements of federal law.
State courts shouldn’t be able to change such laws or devise their own legislative maps—often to reach a partisan result—based on novel and unprecedented interpretations of state constitutions, the legislators argue. This, they say, is barred by the Constitution’s elections clause.