BlindBoo
Diamond Member
- Sep 28, 2010
- 56,638
- 16,608
I think that is a different case from NC. Be that as it may,The real issue in this case is whether third parties (state judges and officials) can overrule the Constitutional authority of state legislatures to conduct elections. Whatever relief might be granted is a secondary issue and extremely unlikely to affect past elections.
"One unusual feature of the Elections Clause is that it does not confer the power to regulate congressional elections on states as a whole, but rather the “Legislature” of each state. The Supreme Court has construed the term “Legislature” extremely broadly to include any entity or procedure that a state’s constitution permits to exercise lawmaking power. Thus, laws regulating congressional elections may be enacted not only by a state’s actual legislature, but also directly by a state’s voters through the initiative process or public referendum, in states that allow such procedures.
The Court also has held that a legislature may delegate its authority under the Elections Clause to other entities or officials. A few states have chosen to transfer power to draw congressional district lines from their respective legislatures to non-partisan or bipartisan “independent redistricting commissions."
Interpretation: Elections Clause | Constitution Center
Interpretations of Elections Clause by constitutional scholars
constitutioncenter.org