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Report: Global Democracy Under Threat, US Democracy in “accelerating decline”
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[h1][b]One Third of Americans Hold Anti-Democratic Views[/b][/h1]
A new [link=https://www.axios.com/2022/09/12/two-americas-index-democracy]Axios/Ipsos poll[/link] finds 33% of Americans prefer strong unelected leaders to weak elected leaders and says presidents should be able to remove judges over their decisions.
The findings from this poll shatter the myth that Americans overwhelmingly agree on a common set of democratic values around checks and balances on elected leaders, protection of minority rights and freedom of speech.
Theyre also a reality check against President Bidens speech that portrayed threats to democracy as solely driven by Republican supporters of former President Trump who refuse to accept that he lost the 2020 election.
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[link=https://time.com/6214773/candidates-defending-americas-elections/]https://time.com/6214773/…ng-americas-elections/[/link]
ugh
I asked him a key question: If Biden wins Arizona in 2024, would Finchem certify that result as secretary of state?
{Arizona Republican Secretary of State candidate Mark},Finchem chuckled. If the law is followed, and legitimate votes have been counted, and Joe Biden ends up being the winner, he told me, Im required under the lawif theres no fraudto certify the election. But, he added, I think youre proposing something that, quite frankly, is a fantasy.
Why, I asked him, was it so impossible to believe [link=https://time.com/5926772/live-updates-congress-elector-certification/]Biden won in Arizona[/link], as many polls predicted and postelection reviews confirmed? It strains credibility, Finchem responded. Isnt it interesting that I cant find anyone who will admit that they voted for Joe Biden? Was it possible that lots of people he didnt personally know had voted for Biden? In a fantasy world, anythings possible, Finchem said.…
Finchems refusal to accept these facts does not make him an outlier among Republican candidates. An analysis by FiveThirtyEight found that of 552 Republicans on the ballot in 2022, [link=https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/republicans-trump-election-fraud/]201 have stated[/link] that the 2020 election was stolen or taken action to overturn the results, and an additional 61 have raised questions about the outcome. According to this tally, roughly 60% of American voters will have at least one election denier on their ballot in November. Many of them are running for statewide roles that would oversee the next election. By the end of the primaries, half of all races for governor and more than a third of all races for secretary of state included an election denier, according to States United Action, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to fair elections. At least 11 GOP nominees for secretary of stateoften a states top election officialhave embraced Trumps Big Lie.
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Better get some ECA reform pronto.
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[i]Accusation en miroir[/i]
[i]…[/i]
[b]Greene Says Democrats Have Started the Killings[/b]
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) [link=https://twitter.com/AccountableGOP/status/1576315800079712257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1576315800079712257%7Ctwgr%5E0287a15c15bfae8124403a657b979ca4d14e046b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedailybeast.com%2Fmarjorie-taylor-greene-says-democrats-have-already-started-the-killings-of-republicans]accused Democrats of murdering Republicans[/link] in killings that the lawmaker claims are underway.
Said Greene: I am not going to mince words with you all. Democrats want Republicans dead, and they have already started the killings.[i]
[/i]Marjorie Taylor Greene: "I am not going to mince words with you all. Democrats want Republicans dead and they have already started the killings."
This rhetoric is dangerous and unacceptable. pic.twitter.com/2UiKXsrlsJ
— Republican Voters Against Trump (@AccountableGOP) October 1, 2022
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[link=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-conservative-stalwart-challenging-the-far-right-legal-theory-that-could-subvert-american-democracy]Jane Mayer[/link]:
[h1]The Conservative Stalwart Challenging the Far-Right Legal Theory That Could Subvert American Democracy[/h1]
J. Michael Luttig is opposing Republican groups in one of the most momentous cases that the Supreme Court is considering this term.A powerful new litigant has joined one of the most momentous cases slated to be heard by the Supreme Court this term. The respondents in the case of Moore v. Harper filed a brief today that included a surprising new signatory: J. Michael Luttig, who has been known for years as perhaps the most conservative Republican judge in the country. Now, though, he has joined a coalition of veteran lawyers and nonpartisan government-watchdog groups who are fighting against a far-right Republican election-law challengeone so radical that critics say it has the potential to end American democracy as we know it.
The former judge is a surprising co-counsel to Neal Katyal, the well-known Supreme Court litigator. Katyal is a counsel of record in the case for several respondents, including Common Cause and the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters, that are opposing the far-right groups. The case is scheduled to be heard by the Court on December 7th. Luttig told me that he signed on as Katyals co-counsel because he regards Moore v. Harper as without question the most significant case in the history of our nation for American democracy. Putting it more colloquially, he said, Legally, its the whole ballgame.
…
The independent-state-legislature theory was the centerpiece of the former Presidents effort to overturn the 2020 election, Luttig told me. In advising Vice-President Pence on January 6th, I concluded that there was no such doctrine of constitutional interpretation. Luttig added, From that day, I have believed I had an obligation to the country to explain the reasons for that conclusion. Namely, there is literally no support at all in the Constitution. In fact, Luttig said, the theory is antithetical to the Framers intent, the text, and the Constitutions fundamental design and architecture.
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We have our share of nutters in Canada. You can’t even make this stuff up…a bit of a read.
[link=https://saltwire.pressreader.com/the-chronicle-herald-provincial/20221021/page/1/textview]https://saltwire.pressrea…221021/page/1/textview[/link]
[u][b]’Qanon Queen’ touring Nova Scotia[/b][/u]
A woman who claims to be the rightful Queen of Canada, along with an entourage of followers, is touring Nova Scotia and Newfoundland claiming that post-tropical storm Fionas damage is widely exaggerated and is part of a grand conspiracy. Her Royal Highness Queen Romana Didulo, as she is known to her about 55,000 followers on the social media platform Telegram, is touring Atlantic Canada in a convoy of three large recreational and passenger vehicles. As of Thursday morning, they were in Sydney Mines, Cape Breton, having already toured through Antigonish, with a stop at the Jimtown Beach, during which she declared in social media posts that there was no significant damage from Fiona, which tore through the Atlantic region beginning the morning of Sept. 24 with hurricaneforce winds and driving rain. When you remove the sensationalism, the fake studio images choreographed, remember a fake news anchor who said it’s knee-deep down here, here is reality, yeah, Didulo told her followers in a livestream on Telegram from Jimtown Beach. A lot of trees fell down here but we have not seen any damages, unless some of the trees fell on some of the houses which we cannot see, up there. During a Tuesday video tour of Antigonish, which suffered significant damage from Fiona, she noted that if there had been trees down she should have seen stumps. Didulo and her followers alternatively claim that Fionas damage was widely exaggerated, that the storm was caused by the government, and that fundraising efforts by the Red Cross She claims damage from post-tropical storm Fiona a conspiracy and Tim Hortons along with government commitments of financial aid are stealing the money of We the people. Didulo, who is from British Columbia, is an advocate of the soverign citizen movement, telling her followers that government has no authority over them and that she has abolished their mortgages and utility bills (so they can stop paying them). She encourages her followers to send cease-and-desist letters to anyone advocating for vaccines in any way, Christine Sarteschi, associate In some ways, its a condemnation of society that people believe in these ideas. Christine Sarteschi Associate professor at University of Chatham in Pittsburgh professor of sociology and criminology at the University of Chatham in Pittsburgh, told Saltwire on Thursday. There have been thousands of these letters received (by those advocating for COVID19 vaccines) saying if they dont stop they will face a military tribunal and be executed. Sarteschi has been monitoring Didulos movement, which shares ideology with the Qanon movement that claims that Liberal elites are running a global pedophile ring. Asked whether we shouldnt ignore Didulo to avoid fuelling her efforts, Sarteschi said that her followers, along with those of Qanon, often take real-world actions that cant be ignored. On Aug. 13, dozens of Didulo’s followers tried to raid the Peterborough, Ont., police department and make citizens arrests of its officers for enforcing COVID-19 protocols. Didulo stayed back in her recreational vehicle as a violent confrontation ensued that led to six of her followers being arrested. According to a Global News report, resulting charges included assaulting a police officer with a weapon, obstructing a police officer and mischief. During the incident, her followers could be heard alternatively accusing the police of brutality, telling them they were under arrest, and yelling were coming for you. In a live video feed to her followers from her RV during the incident, she said that an aircraft was above the police station with allied special forces and that her followers should remain calm. The growth of fringe movements acting on beliefs that do no not align with reality raises concerns to Sarteschi for the future of our society as it grapples with the internet age. In some ways, its a condemnation of society that people believe in these ideas, said Sarteschi. In Romanas case theres no evidence she has ever provided to prove her many claims and apparently her followers, who are funding this road trip, dont require it. The internet allows for this, for people to have their own soapbox then garner a large cohort of followers. According to a VICE News report, the owners of one of the RVS Didulo is travelling with want it back. Her followers allegedly rented the RV from a Quebec family, picked it up in Manitoba in September, and then violated the terms of the agreement. When the family asked for the RV back, Didulo allegedly claimed she had voided the contract. She also posted the familys phone number and personal information on her social media channels. I panicked a little bit when I saw all our personal information posted, and I thought, Oh, God, but most of the responses that we’ve gotten have actually been really positive and encouraging, the RVS owner told VICE News. There’s been very few people that have been angry and hateful.” Followers on Didulo’s social media channels have called for the owners of the RV to be charged with “high treason” and punished with “a milkshake,” which VICE News claims is the group’s codeword for execution. The owner told VICE that Didulo hasnt made a scheduled payment on the rental and that when she contacted the RCMP to report it stolen, they advised she wait until the contract ends in November to see whether it’s returned. A request for an interview with Didulo by Saltwire via one of her Telegram channels has not received a response.
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The US-ification of the Canadian alt-right has been a very disturbing thing for me to watch over these last few years.
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Yup, we call them Canadian Trumpers. Unfortunately I have a relative who wishes he could vote for Trump as PM.
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You can’t have him. Trump’s going to be the PM of Israel.
are Canadian Trumpers still polite? Sorrey don’t yah know that election was rigged for pete’s sake.
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When does Didulo get her own show on Fox?
She does have her own website. “Wanna see my website?”
[link=https://queenromanadidulo.ca/]https://queenromanadidulo.ca/[/link]
[h2]HRH Majesty Queen Romana Didulo[/h2]
Head of State, Commander-in-Chief,
Head of Government of Canada,
President and Queen of The Kingdom of Canada.
Q Q Q
Peace and Prosperity. Or Perish.
I Dont Play Politics.
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Lula defeat Bolsonaro in Brazil . A little of glimmer of
Daylight as one of the global anti-democratic leaders goes down to defeat-
I know a few Brazilians who are dancing on this news.
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It would be a big win if Bolsonaro accepts the results.
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Quote from dergon
Lula defeat Bolsonaro in Brazil . A little of glimmer of
Daylight as one of the global anti-democratic leaders goes down to defeat‘Vote for the crook, it’s important!’
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Quote from fw
Quote from dergon
Lula defeat Bolsonaro in Brazil . A little of glimmer of
Daylight as one of the global anti-democratic leaders goes down to defeat‘Vote for the crook, it’s important!’
Very much so…. it was one of *those* elections
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[link=https://www.yahoo.com/news/stop-steal-leader-ali-alexander-052644074.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly90LmNvLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMXoEWnReBPq4ZEtYyuMd1MwFihYJs-Ig-vMxdXiOR9DL9rjFHPe_Vh-SHuEyXrB74Ph6Ux96TKZkj7iUFtlJNFRodBIS1wFX8SqdSDQ4jqOf7qB-QoZRdaPjLNJuYJQboCaf5YKo6ptOQ_C3O9ZZArKiIrkcToGgafRNDcD6KZW]https://www.yahoo.com/new…rKiIrkcToGgafRNDcD6KZW[/link]
[h1][b]’Stop the Steal’ leader Ali Alexander calls for a military coup in Brazil to intervene in its presidential election after Jair Bolsonaro’s defeat[/b][/h1] [img]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FgW_TKQXEAAZF4W?format=jpg[/img]
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It’s strange trying to figure out what’s going on down there. da Silva has won and the world is afraid Bolsonaro will not concede.
I’m happy for the rain forest. Assuming, this holds.-
I think you saw a rush of western democracies quickly recognizing Lula as a message to the Brazilian military not to get any ideas
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Yes, I think that helped. Very glad to see Bolsonaro ready to allow the rightful transition of power. Pretty amazing isn’t it? I take this as a good sign for democracy world wide.
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Tropical Trump not pulling a Trump
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Exactly. I find it hopeful.
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Brazilian soccer supporters clearing out pro-Bolsonaro blockades throughout the country.
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also this —
Biden tries to keep Democracy on the ballot in mid-term address…[h2][link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/02/biden-warning-democracy-midterms-election-gop/]Biden warns GOP could set U.S. on path to chaos as democracy faces strain[/link][/h2]
The president delivered his warning in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol and just days after Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was attacked.Bidens grim assessment in a speech Wednesday evening came as the FBI and other agencies have forecast that threats of violence from domestic extremists are likely to be on the rise after the election.[b] [/b]In Arizona, voters have complained of intimidation by self-appointed drop-box monitors some of them armed prompting a federal judge to set strict new limits. And the GOP has stepped up litigation in multiple states in an effort to toss out some ballots and to expand access for partisan poll watchers.
Speaking at Washingtons Union Station steps from the U.S. Capitol, which was attacked by a pro-Trump mob in the wake of the nations last major election Biden warned of an ongoing assault on American democracy. The president[b] [/b]spoke as a growing number of major Republican candidates have said they may follow in former president Donald Trumps footsteps and refuse to concede should they lose.
Its unprecedented. Its unlawful. And it is un-American, Biden said. As Ive said before, you cant love your country only when you win.[/QUOTE]
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I read even Bolsonaro is asking for the blockades to be removed.
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[link=https://thehill.com/homenews/media/3721134-bill-maher-on-2022-midterms-democracy-is-on-the-ballot-and-its-going-to-lose/]Bill Maher on 2022 midterms: Democracy is on the ballot and its going to lose[/link][/h2]
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Poor Bill. I’m sorry for his pessimism.
I came to this thread to finally end this fear mongering approach. Low and behold I get the perfect post to respond to. Democracy was on the ballot and look at that! It won handily, enough to overcome the typical headwinds of a mid-term election for the Dems. Add abortion tights and tha’s all that was needed.
I’ll post this here as well because it’s a good listen that relates. Americans care about democracy. They will vote out candidates that make them fearful of its decline.
[link=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/10/podcasts/the-daily/midterm-results-democrats.html?action=click&module=audio-series-bar®ion=header&pgtype=Article]How Democrats Defied the Odds – The New York Times (nytimes.com)[/link]
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So far we have not seen your prediction hold true of numerous, a majority of Republican voters crossing over to pull the levers for Democrats. And 2nd, Democrats did not win so much as to avoid the predicted disaster by pundits & politicians, especially the right-wing ones. An avoided disaster is hardly the same as a win due to cross-over Repubs/RINOs.
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You said it again. I never predicted Republicans would vote Dem to support their silly policy. I predicted they would save our democracy when necessary and vote for things like abortion rights and gun control. Turns out I was right.
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What are the Dems going to do when nobody is worried about the state of our democracy anymore and it comes down to policy?
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What are the Reps going to do when they can’t scare voters into believing the Dems are going to turn the country into a socialist regime?
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Quote from Thread Killer
What are the Reps going to do when they can’t scare voters into believing the Dems are going to turn the country into a socialist regime?
Pointless question. Republicans will *always* portray any enlargement of government, any increase in regulation, any increase in tax rates as “socialist.”
Quote from Thread Killer
What are the Dems going to do when nobody is worried about the state of our democracy anymore and it comes down to policy?
I doubt that the autocratic/ fascist lean to the Republican party will go away any time soon.
But if it does, Democrats can go back to the “normal” state of attacking Republican policy as heartless, callous, regressive, plutocratic, theocratic, racist, and environmentally destructive.
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Interesting. Default approach in the mind of a party loyalist. Figure out the best way to attack the other side.
I was thinking more in terms of changing themselves.-
Acknowledging a partisan reality is not in and of itself a partisan act.
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Didn’t say it was. I am noticing some things that tend to create polarization and, at least for myself, am attempting to find ways to mitigate it.
I think it’s a shame that the currently favored partisan approach is to find what we fear in the other side and attack it. Sure, we might be right. However, it’s unlikely that approach will improve anything.
How about looking within to find ways to encourage others to lean, even join in?
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[link=https://www.axios.com/2022/11/12/presidents-bush-obama-democracy-conferences-midterms]https://www.axios.com/202…y-conferences-midterms[/link]
[b]Former Presidents Bush, Obama to hold back-to-back democracy conferences to follow Trumps announcement [/b]
Former U.S. Presidents George Bush and Barack Obama are headlining back-to-back democracy conferences next week, highlighting rising threats from authoritarianism and disinformation and how to combat them globally and at home.
Bush and Obama a Republican and a Democrat respectively didn’t coordinate their timing, organizers say. But their events Bush’s is Nov. 16 in Dallas and Obama’s is Nov. 17 in New York are happening the week after the U.S. midterm elections.
“We’re very mindful of what’s happening in the United States, and we have to make sure we stay on a democratic path. At the same time, we have to help and support others around the world. So we can’t simply fold up our tent and focus on everything at home. We have to focus on both things.”
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[link=https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1591823911356076032]https://twitter.com/RonFi…us/1591823911356076032[/link]
Kari Lake supporters calling for the military to step in and force a re-do election
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So glad this has finally become something to laugh at rather than fear. It was dicey for a bit but I was always optimistic. I have a lot of faith in a majority of American voters.
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[h1]Democracys Dunkirk[/h1] [b]The fight to preserve American democracy continues.[/b]
[b]
[/b]
(I like this take … captures how I feel at the moment)
[link=https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/11/democracys-dunkirk/672187/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20221118&utm_term=The%20Atlantic%20Daily]Tim Nichols[/link]: November has been a good month for democracy. Brazils autocratic president, Jair Bolsonaro, authorized the transfer of power after losing in national elections to a left-wing challenger. Russias murderous army is literally on the run in Ukraine. And American voters went to the polls and defied both history and expectation: They left the Senate in the hands of Democrats, gave the House to the Republicans by only a tiny majority, and crushed the electoral aspirations of a ragtag coalition of election deniers, Christian nationalists, and general weirdos.
Thats the good news. But [b]as relieved as I am that some of my darkest worries did not come to pass last week, democracy is still in danger. What happened last week was an important electoral victory that allows all of us to fight another dayspecifically, two years from now. Without the defeat of the deniers in 2022, the 2024 elections would likely have fallen into chaos and perhaps even violence. Both are still possibilities. [/b] But voters rallied and turned back the worst and most immediate threats to the American system of government.
Think of last week as American democracys Dunkirk: an improvised but crucial escape from disaster.
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[link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/20/democracy-reasons-to-be-grateful-thanksgiving/]https://www.washingtonpos…grateful-thanksgiving/[/link]
Opinion [/h1] [b] [/b][b]Democracy defenders have many reasons to be grateful this Thanksgiving[/b]
..
Im grateful to voters, who for the third consecutive election, showed there is a majority even if a frightfully narrow one that rejects authoritarianism, crude appeals to racism and xenophobia, and downright nutty and mean candidates.
Im grateful younger voters are developing a habit of voting in midterms.
Im grateful millions of Americans, especially women, have reacted with one voice in opposition to the Supreme Courts Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization decision and cruel abortion bans.
..
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The greatest danger in American politics is not recognizing that there are great dangers. The same people in 2015 and 2016 were confidently asserting Donald Trump could never, ever under any circumstances win the Republican nomination, and there were never any circumstances where Donald Trump could beat Hillary Clinton I know that the Republicans who right now are acting very bold and the donors who are acting very frisky as Trump starts winning primaries, they will bend the knee, they will break, they will fall, they will all come back into line.
Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson, quoted by [link=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/27/rick-wilson-lincoln-project-dismiss-trump-ron-desantis]The Guardian[/link].
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His approach here is interesting. I guess he thinks trolling these people is helpful. Im more optimistic but I am overall supportive of his plan.
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[h1][b]The Most Important Case on American Democracy[/b][/h1] [b]
[/b]
[b]Independent State Legislature theory goes to SCOTUS[/b]
[link=https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-north-carolina-legislature-50f99679939b5d69d321858066a94639]Associated Press[/link]: The court is set to hear arguments Wednesday in a case from North Carolina, where Republican efforts to draw congressional districts heavily in their favor were blocked by a Democratic majority on the state Supreme Court because the GOP map violated the state constitution.
A court-drawn map produced seven seats for each party in last months midterm elections in highly competitive North Carolina.
The question for the justices is whether the U.S. Constitutions provision giving state legislatures the power to make the rules about the times, places and manner of congressional elections cuts state courts out of the process.
