OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — While Moore v. Harper has potential consequences for Nebraska its story starts in North Carolina.
State lawmakers redistricted like us in 2021 but the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled those maps were tainted by gerrymandering.
"What happened was those maps they originally drew were thrown out by the Supreme Court of the state. They were ruled unconstitutional. In response to that a group of legislators have begun to argue that courts have no authority over what state legislators do when it comes to elections," said Gavin Geis with Common Cause Nebraska.
The dispute made its way in front of the US Supreme Court, where representatives of the North Carolina Legislature argued a controversial theory.
"The heart of the case deals with this concept called the Independent State Legislature theory. Under this theory it gives the state legislature the exclusive power, the exclusive authority to decide all election procedures regarding federal elections," said Jane Seu with the Nebraska ACLU.
In essence, the Independent State Legislature theory removes the checks and balances from other branches of government on election proceedings.
This means in Nebraskas the Supreme Court could not challenge district maps that show obvious gerrymandering and the Governor could not veto bills that established gerrymandering districts.
This would put CD2, Nebraska's occasional blue dot, into serious jeopardy.
"There would be nothing to stop something happening here like what happened in North Carolina. Where you have a gerrymandered map, we saw maps in the last redistricting session that split the urban area of Omaha down the middle. Essentially diluting the power of that district," said Seu.
The consequences could go beyond redistricting as well.
All election processes, from deciding when you can vote, where you can vote and who can vote could all be decided unilaterally by the legislature, leaving the system vulnerable to partisan influences.
"If it is ruled in Moore v Harper that there are no checks and balances. That legislatures have ultimate authority in our elections, that should concern every Nebraskan. Because it will change how we vote, and it will change how we protect and ensure every vote counts," said Geis.
While oral arguments were heard on Wednesday the decision on Moore v. Harper won't be handed down until the spring or early summer of 2023.
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