John, I must alert you to a terrifying new attack on our right to free and fair elections – one that Common Cause is fighting against at the Supreme Court this fall.
They call it the “independent state legislature” theory, but I call it the total abolition of checks and balances in how our federal elections are run.
In just a few months, these ideologues will argue that the Court should grant state legislatures near-absolute power over federal elections – even if their actions violate state constitutions and undermine checks and balances, the role of state courts, and basic common sense.
Locking in deliberately-rigged voting maps. Bringing back Jim Crow voting laws. Rolling back popular pro-voter reforms like vote-by-mail. All of this is on the table if the Court accepts this manipulative power grab.
Our lawyers are on the case – and we’ve prepared a legal defense to appeal to the 5 justices we’ll need to win over, based on precedents they’ve already authored and affirmed. The stakes couldn’t be higher, but we are confident in our path to victory.
But we also must learn the lessons of devastating anti-democracy rulings like Citizens United and Shelby County – which means making sure we’re prepared for absolutely anything.
Simply put, John, this could be the most frightening ruling to emerge from the coming Supreme Court term – which is why we need to get to work now, and not wait until the Supreme Court makes its decision next year.
Here’s how we’re fighting back now: we have retained the expert legal counsel of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and Hogan Lovells to make sure we mount the strongest legal case possible. And, we’ve launched a major public education campaign to ensure our rights can’t be taken away under cover of darkness.
John, in states like North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, state courts are the final line of defense protecting voters from runaway state legislatures. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the far-right litigants in this case are asking the Supreme Court to upend our democracy itself – and intensify their campaign to politically silence Black and brown communities.
After all, if the same gerrymandered state legislatures that spent last year passing devastating voter suppression laws in states like Georgia and Florida are given this level of control over elections, they can use it to put even more barriers to the ballot!
Common Cause won’t let this attempted power grab go unanswered. And even as we mount a historic voter protection effort for the midterm elections, we need to bring everything we’ve got to this high-stakes legal fight for the future of our democracy.
That’s why I’m coming to you today – in hopes that you can step up with an Emergency Contribution to help us STOP this dangerous power grab in its tracks. Can you rush a contribution of $3 or more today?
Thanks for all you do,
Karen Hobert Flynn, Common Cause
and the team at Common Cause
P.S. You can learn more about this potential landmark Supreme Court case, and our legal strategy to win it, on our website.
