After the 2020 election Texas filed suit in the Supreme Court with 21 states concurring that several states who had disputed results used election rule changes that were unconstitutional as they violated laws passed by state legislatures. The Supreme Court dismissed the case without hearing or argument. 

Now that the issue has cooled the court seems ready to issue a correction. 

At the time, we blasted the Supreme Court for ignoring the plain language of the Electors Clause of the Constitution in Article I:  

“The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof.”

The presidential electors clause in Article 2 states: “Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress.”

Now it seems that the Supreme Court would like to remedy that error. 

The Electors Clause in the Constitution is in plain language. Local judges may not change election laws at the last minute. Secretaries of State may not unilaterally change election laws either, all of which happened in the states disputed in the 2020 election allowing drop boxes, ballot harvesting, mass mailout of ballots, suspending of signature verification of ballots and other election integrity checks.

The state legislature and only the legislatures set election laws so long a they do not violate the US Constitution (such as saying red heads cannot vote). Legislatures do not even need a governor’s signature to set such laws. The Founders were clear on this.

Affirming the plain language of the Electors Clause would go a long way in curtailing ballot fraud efforts.