WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to impose new limits on state courts reviewing certain election-related issues by ruling against Republicans in North Carolina fighting for a congressional district map that would heavily favor their candidates.
The justices ruled in a 6-3 vote that the North Carolina Supreme Court was acting within its authority in concluding that the map constituted a partisan gerrymander under the state Constitution.
In doing so, the court declined to embrace a broad version of a hitherto obscure legal argument called the “independent state legislature” theory, which Republicans say limits the authority of state courts to strike down certain election laws enacted by state legislatures.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump cited the theory in various cases during the 2020 presidential election and its aftermath.
The ruling was widely welcomed by voting rights groups and Democrats who had been worried about the implications of a ruling that would curb state court power.
"Today the Supreme Court rejected the fringe independent state legislature theory that threatened to upend our democracy and dismantle our system of checks and balances," former President Barack Obama tweeted.
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The justices ruled in a 6-3 vote that the North Carolina Supreme Court was acting within its authority in concluding that the map constituted a partisan gerrymander under the state Constitution.
In doing so, the court declined to embrace a broad version of a hitherto obscure legal argument called the “independent state legislature” theory, which Republicans say limits the authority of state courts to strike down certain election laws enacted by state legislatures.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump cited the theory in various cases during the 2020 presidential election and its aftermath.
The ruling was widely welcomed by voting rights groups and Democrats who had been worried about the implications of a ruling that would curb state court power.
"Today the Supreme Court rejected the fringe independent state legislature theory that threatened to upend our democracy and dismantle our system of checks and balances," former President Barack Obama tweeted.
Supreme Court rules against giving state legislatures unchecked control over federal elections
The justices rejected the “independent state legislature" theory, which Trump supporters cited during the 2020 election. The theory would have restricted the power of state courts to review certain election laws.
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