Election law Archives | American Democracy Minute

Michigan GOP’s ‘Independent State Legislature Theory’ Case Rebuffed by U.S. Supreme Court

May 22, 2025May 22, 2025

The “Independent State Legislature Theory” met a skeptical U.S. Supreme Court in 2023 in Moore v. Harper, a North Carolina gerrymandering case. The Michigan GOP tried to employ the fringe theory to undo Michigan’s Question 2 citizen initiative, but the U.S. Supreme Court refused the case May 19th.

Arizona Anti-Voter Legislators Up Their Game to Quash Citizen Ballot Initiatives

May 20, 2024May 20, 2024

How’s this for cruel irony: Arizona anti-voter legislators are proposing voters pass their legislative constitutional ballot question this November to make it harder for voters to get a citizen ballot initiative on the ballot.

State Appeals Court Upholds Ruling Striking Down Four Michigan Rules Governing Partisan Poll Challengers

October 25, 2023December 28, 2023

Four rules governing partisan poll challengers in Michigan’s election official handbook will have to be removed or enacted by the legislature, according to a Michigan appeals court.

North Carolina Supreme Court’s Harper v. Hall Decision May Impact an Even Bigger Case: Moore v. Harper

May 1, 2023May 4, 2023

We reported yesterday on the blatantly partisan decision by the North Carolina Supreme Court to throw out its own 2022 decision and give license to the state legislature to gerrymander at will. That decision ALSO impacts the Moore vs. Harper “independent state legislature” case in the U.S. Supreme Court.