RALEIGH, N.C. — The US Supreme Court has requested parties involved in the high-stakes voting rights case of Moore v. Harper to file additional briefs, as new developments have emerged in the state of North Carolina since the justices heard oral arguments in the case last year.
The case has garnered national attention from voting rights experts who believe the dispute could have significant implications for the future of elections in the United States if the high court embraces a long-dormant legal theory put forward by Republican lawmakers in North Carolina.
The dispute revolves around a decision by a Democratic-leaning North Carolina Supreme Court that invalidated the state’s congressional map as an illegal partisan gerrymander and replaced it with a court-drawn map that was more favorable to Democrats. The lawmakers then challenged that decision, arguing that under the so-called independent state legislature doctrine, state legislatures get to set the rules in federal elections without any constraints from state courts or other state entities.
The Elections Clause of the US Constitution forms the basis of this legal theory, which alarms some voting rights experts who argue that it could upend elections and lead to rogue state legislatures.
During oral arguments in December, some of the US Supreme Court justices appeared interested in a more limited application of the controversial theory. However, recent developments in North Carolina have raised doubts about the future of the case.
Following last year’s election, the majority in the state Supreme Court shifted to Republicans. In February, the new Republican-leaning majority announced that it would be rehearing oral arguments in the case, a move that could render the case before the US Supreme Court moot.
The decision by the North Carolina court prompted the justices in Washington, DC to request additional briefs from the parties involved in the case to address the new developments and respond to whether the state court’s decision to reconsider the case deprives the Supreme Court of jurisdiction in the matter. The parties have until March 20 to submit their new briefs to the US Supreme Court.
The North Carolina court has scheduled a March 14 hearing to review the case, adding further uncertainty to the outcome of the dispute.