Early next year, the Supreme Court will release a decision on the case Moore v. Harper, and its ruling will have long-lasting impacts on how this country conducts elections. North Carolina has a somewhat notorious reputation during elections already. Almost every year, there are lawsuits concerning the electoral maps drawn by the General Assembly. 

Gerrymandering, noted by Debra Mullis in a past column, is when state legislators draw electoral maps designed to keep their party in power. The latest set of maps passed by the General Assembly favored Democrats in only four out of the total congressional districts. Various state courts have repeatedly thrown their other out maps on the count of gerrymandering.

Understandably, members of the General Assembly are not pleased with the state judiciary foiling their attempts to entrench themselves in power. Based on a particular interpretation of the Constitution called the Independent State Legislature Theory (ISLT), they have decided to sue the North Carolina Supreme Court to strip the judiciary of its power to regulate electoral maps.

The ISLT’s core proposition is that state constitutions have no power to restrict state legislatures’ decisions regarding election law. ISLT proponents get this idea from a narrow reading of the Elections Clause, which gives legislatures the authority to determine the “times, places and manner of holding elections.” This means these governing bodies would be free to pass extremely gerrymandered electoral maps and voter suppression laws.

While gerrymandering has been around since the founding of the country, the lack of judicial oversight would be truly unprecedented. All together, hundreds of election rules and regulations would be up for dispute with the legislature’s new control if the case passes. 

If the legislature has its way, it would even be able to choose which presidential candidate gets the state’s electoral college votes, without any checks and balances. This change would add to the issues already present with the Electoral College being unrepresentative of the popular vote. 

The Supreme Court must look at the constitutionality of the proposed law. Their job is to interpret the Constitution as it is, not how they want it to be. The question before the court is whether or not the founders intended the word legislatures in such a narrow manner. The answer is unequivocally a no. 

According to Vox, Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch voiced support for ISLT when North Carolina applied for a hearing. Justice Brett Kavanaugh also voiced support for the case in less formal means. Justice Amy Coney Barrett is the only possible swing vote in the case, but she is likely to side with her Republican colleagues.

The League of Women Voters has now banded together across all 50 states to file an amicus brief about their concerns with Moore v. Harper. Some of their leaders are concerned about the cases’ implications for the number of early voting sites and the length of the early voting period.

In North Carolina, 65% of ballots were cast during early voting in 2020. If the early voting timeline becomes shorter, this will especially affect student voters. Currently, the only way to vote on campus is during early voting. The election day polling place is off campus, which can be difficult for some students to access, highlighted by correspondent Anu Mishra in a recent column. 

Early voting is also very helpful for a variety of groups like single mothers or low-income people with irregular work schedules or a lack of reliable transportation. There is a lot of crossover between these groups and the groups systemically hurt by North Carolina’s attempts at passing gerrymandered voting districts and a voter ID law. 

If the nine justices decide to allow Moore’s interpretation of the Constitution to pass, a dangerous precedent will be set for growing legislative power. North Carolina politicians will have more power than ever before to suppress votes and ensure they stay in power. 

Be on the lookout in Talley and outside dining halls for the petition to get a voting site on campus made by Student Government and Pack the Polls. Even if Moore v. Harper is passed, your vote still matters to keep North Carolina’s General Assembly in check.