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 theory,” or ISLT, which argues that state legislatures have unconditional power to legislate on election issues and cannot be reviewed by any established checks and balances, like a governor’s veto or a state court’s ruling.

State Legislature Seeks Unchecked Power over Elections in Moore v. Harper
By: Caren Short
LWVUS Blog / Last Updated: August 24, 2022