A legal argument lurking in two Supreme Court cases could give Republican legislators in battleground states sweeping control over election procedures, with ramifications that could include power over how states select presidential electors. Republicans from Pennsylvania and North Carolina challenged court-ordered redistricting plans in their states based on the “independent legislature” theory. It’s a reading of the Constitution, stemming from the 2000 election recount in Florida, that argues legislators have ultimate power over elections in their states and that state courts have a limited ability — or even none at all — to check it. The Supreme Court turned away the GOP redistricting challenges on Monday, largely on procedural grounds. But at least four justices embraced the “independent legislature” theory to some degree, which would consolidate power over election administration in key states with GOP-dominated state legislatures, from the ability to draw district lines unchallenged to passing new restrictions on voting. Taken to its extreme, some proponents of the theory argue it would give legislators power to override the choice of presidential electors after voting in their states. Even if five justices signed on to a version of the independent legislature theory, it is unclear how far reaching a ruling will be, said Rick Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California, Irvine School of Law who does not support the theory. “There’s a lot of potential for nuance here,” he said. “Even if you had a majority of justices that agreed that there’s something to this theory, they might not agree that a particular state has violated it.”
Florida: Voting rights advocates decry new office for election crimes | Sam Levine/The Guardian
Florida has approved a measure that would create a statewide office to investigate election crimes – the first of its kind in the United States. Voter fraud is extremely rare both nationwide and in Florida. Nonetheless, the new office of election crime and security will have 25 positions to investigate election fraud and be funded with more than $3m, Daniel Perez, a Republican state representative who backed the bill, said on the floor of the Florida house this week. It will be housed within the department of state, which is responsible for overseeing elections in Florida and whose head is appointed by the governor. The department will be authorized to investigate any alleged violations of Florida election law and oversee a voter fraud hotline. Each year, the agency will be required to provide a report to the governor and state legislature on how many investigations it conducted the previous year as well as how many matters were referred to another agency for further investigation or prosecution. The measure passed the Florida house on Wednesday and final approval from the Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, is expected shortly. The unit is slightly scaled back from what DeSantis called for in January, when he requested $6m for the office and wanted 52 staffers.
Full Article: Voting rights advocates decry Florida’s new office for election crimes | US news | The Guardian