A fringe theory cited in challenges against Pennsylvania's new congressional map could give state legislatures unchecked election power if endorsed by the highest court in the United States — and that remains a possibility.

Spotlight PA and Stateline report the U.S. Supreme Court this month left the door open to the theory and with it a radical shift in how elections are governed ahead of the pivotal 2024 presidential contest.

While the court refused to overturn court-ordered (and more competitive) congressional maps in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, three conservative justices endorsed the "independent state legislature doctrine" theory, while another signaled he wanted to formally consider the question.

That means there appears to be enough votes to put the issue — and the possible legitimization of the doctrine — on the court's 2023 calendar. 

Legal experts and voting rights advocates are alarmed. 

THE CONTEXT: Their primary concern is that the doctrine would leave partisan politicians, rather than independent administrators, to oversee elections and, possibly, to overturn results they disagree with. 

Constitutional scholars have widely panned the "independent state legislature doctrine" as an inaccurate reading of the U.S. Constitution, but if endorsed by the U.S. Supreme Court, it would virtually give state legislatures a blank slate to set voting rules and to draw congressional maps.

Joshua Douglas, a professor at the J. David Rosenberg College of Law at the University of Kentucky, put it this way: "It means that those who are most self-interested in retaining their positions also have the most power now in dictating the rules of the game."

Observers say the push is part and parcel of a larger effort by state legislatures to strip power from other branches of government.