A majority of justices on the Supreme Court sounded skeptical at oral arguments Wednesday that state courts can’t review state rules for congressional elections, part of a dispute over North Carolina’s congressional map.
Three Republican-appointed justices, along with the court’s three Democratic appointees, pushed back on an argument from North Carolina legislators that a clause in the U.S. Constitution gives them greater sway than the state Supreme Court on federal election rules.
The Republican legislators argued that the state Supreme Court does not have the power to find that the state constitution banned partisan gerrymandering and order a new map — a theory that some legal experts say could allow state lawmakers nationwide to upend election laws.
