Over the past half century, Republican leaders have had considerable success enlisting courts in their campaign to boost the party’s electoral prospects through the suppression of voting and the manipulation of election rules. Donald Trump has embraced this mission and escalated the assault on America’s electoral processes in new and dangerous ways. Has the Supreme Court supported or opposed this contemptible project? Its recent election law decisions offer a mixed verdict, though its performance mostly leans in an antidemocratic direction. The court’s decisions safeguarding democracy are fewer than those that undermine voting rights and elections, are typically handed down over the objections of Trump’s appointees, and often include doctrinal provisions that enable it to restrict democratic participation in the future. Whether the Supreme Court will abet or discourage the erosion of American democracy in the future is an open question.
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