Source: News & Observer
In school, we all learned about the importance of checks and balances in maintaining a democracy that truly represents the people. Checks and balances also prevent any person or faction from gaining too much power. However, an upcoming Supreme Court case could undo all that the framers of our constitution did to ensure that balance.
In the upcoming Moore v. Harper case, Republicans in our state legislature argue that when it comes to federal elections the state legislature has sole control and no accountability to any other branch of government, including the state courts.
It is no surprise that this case originated in North Carolina where Republicans in the legislature have a storied history of subverting democracy. Time and time again, North Carolina Republicans have had their extreme, gerrymandered electoral maps struck down as unconstitutional by state courts. The case is brought as a direct response to this check on their power.
From the News & Observer:
“Over the past decade, GOP lawmakers have imposed severe voting restrictions, including photo ID requirements and cuts to early voting, specifically targeted at Black voters. When that law was overturned in 2016, the court wrote that no legislature “has ever done so much, so fast, to restrict access to the franchise.”
North Carolina Republicans also seized power from the governor in what was widely dubbed a “legislative coup.” State and federal courts have struck down our election maps again and again due to unconstitutional racial and partisan gerrymandering — a practice that Republicans did not invent but have certainly perfected.”
The GOP in North Carolina would rather sow chaos in our system and weaken our democracy to the point of breaking than be beholden to the voters by fair and constitutional maps. Duke University professor Asher Hildebrand told the News & Observer, “If five Supreme Court justices endorsed some version of that doctrine, then I really think that’s a sort of death knell of democracy.”
Common Cause North Carolina and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice have launched a statewide tour — holding town halls in all 100 counties — to build a movement against the case.
