This story was originally published in The Daily Reflector.

The League of Women Voters of North Carolina has released a video to explain how votes are counted and election results are certified to help voters better understand the post-election process.

On August 16, the President signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 into law. The law approves more than 700 billion dollars in federal investments aimed at reducing the national deficit, combating climate change, and lowering health care costs.  

The League of Women Voters Education Fund (LWVEF) has tapped into the power of young people through its Youth Voter Registration project since 2010. In the spring of 2022 alone, 87 League volunteer teams across the country hosted close to 900 events and registered 22,406 youth in high schools, technical schools, community colleges, youth shelters, and at community events like protests, rallies, and festivals. 

In February 2022, the North Carolina supreme court issued a historic ruling that partisan gerrymandering violates the North Carolina constitution and ordered new maps to be drawn. 

North Carolina lawmakers have appealed the ruling to the US Supreme Court, putting forward a dangerous theory known as the “independent state legislature doctrine," which argues that state legislatures have unconditional power to legislate on election issues and cannot be reviewed by any established checks and balances.

If this fringe theory — which has been rejected repeatedly by the US Supreme Court — is accepted by the current US Supreme Court, state legislatures could have unchecked power to control elections in the state.