US Supreme Court Could Move To Give More Power To US States

Supreme Court

With North Carolina Republican legislators challenging a ruling by the Supreme Court in the state that disallowed the redrawing of congressional district borders, the US Supreme Court is set to hear the case. The SCOTUS is starkly divided along party lines with 6 judges completely biased towards the GOP.

The state legislators were barred by the state court from redrawing the congressional district borders after the last census. The state court ruled that the redistricting map was partisan and was in violation of the constitution of the state. It ruled that it failed to reflect the general makeup of political parties in North Carolina.

The contentious idea is that states should have the supreme power to fix election rules and their decisions would stand beyond the review of any state court.

This position was first advocated by supporters of the disgraced former President Trump. They advocated this position during the dispute involving the last presidential elections. Trump supporters held the position that state courts should not have the authority to decide on the mail ballot rules. Though the arguments fell through, at least 4 of the 6 Republican judges found merit in that case.

US Supreme Court Victory For North Carolina Republicans Would Reduce State Court Powers

Experts believe that any triumph for the Republicans at the US Supreme Court here would drastically reduce the powers of the lower courts to control wayward state legislators who rig or otherwise violate the voting system during federal elections.

Professor Rick Hasen, an expert on election law at the Univ. of California said that the US Supreme Court’s judgment would effectively neuter the state court’s ability to protect the rights of voters from being infringed upon by state politicians.

Timothy Moore, the North Carolina House Speaker argued that the legislators have the sole power to decide on issues that include redistricting, which helps state legislators to draw maps based on the racial composition of voters that demographically favor them during elections.