The Supreme Court rejected a request to hear a Republican-backed case out of Montana concerning election law.
The dispute concerns the scope that state legislatures have to set the rules of federal elections. Montana's Republican legislature passed a pair of election integrity laws that were blocked by the state's left-leaning Supreme Court.
In their request to the U.S. Supreme Court, Montana Republicans said the case is an ideal vehicle for resolving unanswered questions about the court's 2023 precedent Moore v. Harper.
In that case, the Supreme Court largely rejected the so-called independent legislature theory, which holds that state legislatures have exclusive power to make the rules of elections. While the Supreme Court found that judicial review is permissible by state courts, they noted that courts do not have "free rein."
Montana's Republicans argue the state's Supreme Court is exercising free rein and stepping on the legislature's power to set election law.
"In short, the Montana Supreme Court has assumed a de facto new role as the final and exclusive arbiter of all federal election legislation in Montana. This Court’s review is urgently needed,” Montana wrote.
Montana's Supreme Court has interpreted the state's constitution in a liberal fashion, recently ruling there is a right to be protected from greenhouse gases. Montana's Republican Secretary of State, Christi Jacobsen, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a pair of election laws that the Montana Supreme Court struck down 5-2.
The state's top court found that the laws - which banned same-day voter registration and paid, third-party ballot harvesting - violated the right to vote under the state constitution. Montana's Democrats are fighting to block those laws, which they say would disenfranchise some voters.
“The court’s analysis was based on the ample trial record in this case and firmly grounded in existing Montana law. There was nothing extraordinary or inappropriate about it,” the Democrats wrote in court filings.
Moore v. Harper arose from a dispute over North Carolina's congressional districts after the 2020 census. The state's Supreme Court ruled the map was an unlawful partisan gerrymander favoring Republicans.
The case garnered significant attention, with President Barack Obama praising the United States Supreme Court's 6-3 decision as “a resounding rejection of the far-right theory that has been peddled by election deniers and extremists seeking to undermine our democracy.”
Montana's petition was backed by National Republican Senatorial Committee, 15 other Republican state attorneys general and the America First Legal Foundation. The Supreme Court rejected the case without explanation.
