On Thursday, the Supreme Court announced that it will hear a potentially landmark case next term on the Independent State Legislature Doctrine (ISLD) — a radical theory seeking to give state legislatures control over all aspects of federal elections, and the legal reasoning that Trump employed in his attempt to steal the 2020 presidential election.
The case, Moore v. Harper, centers on a challenge from the North Carolina General Assembly to its state supreme court’s ability to reject heavily gerrymandered congressional district maps. If the Court rules in favor of the assembly, it would also by implication give state legislatures the right to ignore their executive and judicial branches — and their own voters’ selection — when awarding presidential electors in 2024. This decision would most certainly pave the way for future election subversion attempts like the one we saw in 2020.
Daniel Squadron, Executive Director of The States Project, released the following statement about today’s announcement:
“We’re on the verge of our elections descending into chaos. Moore v. Harper could signal the end of democracy as we know it. We’re now one decision away from free and fair presidential elections meeting the same fate as Roe. There’s no way around it: Electing pro-democracy state legislative majorities is our last and best chance.”
