Opinion | The worst part about John Roberts’ celebrated Supreme Court ruling

, which provides that state legislatures determine the “Times, Places and Manner” of federal elections. Under this theory, only state lawmakers — not state courts, state election administration officials, nor governors — can make decisions about federal elections. If, for instance, the state legislature wanted to close down half of the state’s polling places, it would be able to do so free of state judicial review as to whether such a move violated state laws.

In a final twist, while the case was up on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the balance of power in the North Carolina Supreme Court flipped, and the Republican majority overruled the previous decision. Given this reversal, there wasas to whether the U.S. Supreme Court would still find that there was a live controversy to decide. This week they answered that question in the affirmative.

The inclination to celebrate the Supreme Court’s decision as a victory for democracy makes sense. But this is a bit like celebrating the court asking an arsonist to leave the house after inviting him in. The Supreme Court chose to hear a case with a fringe theory about the power of state lawmakers. There was no reason that they had to do so. The fact that, after oral arguments, they realized they maybe shouldn’t show the arsonist where the matches are kept is hardly an act of legal heroism.

While Roberts’ standard is vague, the outcome could be concrete. Roberts has asserted that federal judges have a role to play when state courts are reviewing state laws, at least with respect to federal election disputes. It doesn’t take much to imagine that another presidential election could come down to the outcome in one state. We can envision, for example, that the 2024 presidential election hinges on the winner of Georgia.

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