SCOTUS rules state courts have a role in elections

In Moore v. Harper, the United States Supreme Court ruled that state courts are not prohibited by the United States Constitution from making decisions with regards to elections. In a 6-3 ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts rejected the “independent state legislature doctrine” (ISLD) and held that state courts may still rule on disputes regarding elections.

The ISLD proposed that two provisions of the United States Constitution, namely Article I saying that the “Times, Places and Manner” of congressional elections “shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof,” and Article II saying states are to appoint electors to the Electoral College “in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct” did not mean that a state legislature had unlimited, unreviewable power with regards to elections.

Roberts wrote that throughout the country’s history, state courts had been considered to have power to review a legislature’s actions regarding state constitutions, and that the language of Article I and Article II do not create an exception to that rule. However, Roberts wrote, because the Constitution provides to state legislatures the power to make rules for federal elections, federal courts also “have an obligation to ensure that state court interpretations of that law do not evade federal law.”