Supreme Court grapples with theory that would upend federal election rules

The Supreme Court on Wednesday weighed a blockbuster redistricting case from North Carolina involving whether state legislatures have near exclusive power to set federal election rules with no review by state courts, a dispute that brought stern warnings of the disruptions such an idea could cause to elections nationwide and the unchecked power it could give to state lawmakers.

Known as Moore v. Harper, the case stems from the redrawing of the congressional map by North Carolina's GOP-led legislature in the wake of the 2020 Census, which was struck down by the state supreme court as an extreme partisan gerrymander that violated the North Carolina Constitution. The state's Republican leaders asked the U.S. Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, to reinstate the voting lines that gave GOP candidates an advantage in most of the state's 14 congressional districts.

At the heart of the dispute lies a little-known doctrine called the "independent state legislature theory," which largely laid dormant for more than 15 years but was thrust back into the spotlight when it was raised by former President Donald Trump and his allies as part of efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.