John, I must alert you to a new attack on our right to free and fair elections – one that Common Cause is fighting against at the U.S. Supreme Court in TWO DAYS.
A group of rogue politicians want to remove the constitutional checks and balances state legislatures face when it comes to federal redistricting and elections. This would give them nearly unchecked power to undermine our elections.
In just two days, these political insiders will argue that the Court should grant state legislatures near-absolute power over federal elections – even if their actions violate state constitutions – with no check from state courts, governors, or commissions. What these partisan operatives are pushing for is tyranny of power by one branch of government.
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 Supreme Court accepts this manipulative power grab.
Our lawyers at Southern Coalition for Social Justice and Hogan Lovells are on the case. Our legal argument to win the support of at least 5 justices is based on the text and history of the U.S. and North Carolina constitution and laws, and two centuries of legal precedents. The stakes couldn’t be higher, but we are confident in our path to victory.
Even so, we have to learn the lessons of devastating anti-democracy rulings like Citizens United and Shelby County – which means making sure we’re prepared for absolutely anything. That’s why we have been reaching out to conservative scholars and unlikely allies to stand with us in defending the fundamental American premise that no one – not even state legislators – is above the law.
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. Our counsel, Neal Katyal, former Solicitor General under President Obama, will be arguing the case. 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, Pennsylvania, and New York, state courts are the final line of defense protecting voters from runaway state legislatures. I’m not exaggerating when I say that extreme and desperate partisans are asking the Supreme Court to shred our Constitutional protections in order to win the next election. They believe their only path to victory is to subvert our democracy and politically silence the opposition, particularly Black and brown communities.
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 and will 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 Georgia runoff election, 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 and 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,
Kathay Feng, Director of Redistricting & Representation
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, at mooreharper.org.
