As oral arguments have begun in Moore v. Harper, NCDP First Vice Chair Floyd McKissick penned an op-ed for the News & Observer on the threat this case imposes on democracy and holding Republicans accountable for their “alarming” efforts to undermine democracy for their own political gain. 

Read the highlights:

News & Observer: High-stakes election case before the Supreme Court should alarm all in NC

• The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday on a case that poses an existential threat to our democracy — Moore v. Harper. With this case, Republicans have made clear that winning elections reigns above all else. 

• As a senator in the N.C. General Assembly, I sat on redistricting committees and fought against the twisted tactics implored by my Republican colleagues to gerrymander our districts. With these partisan maps, Republicans split communities and neighborhoods down the middle to dilute the democratic process and disenfranchise voters — disproportionately impacting communities of color. 

• Moore v. Harper seeks a radical misinterpretation of our U.S. Constitution that would have severe implications on future presidential and congressional elections, including empowering state legislators to overturn election results and subvert the will of N.C. voters. 

• With Moore v. Harper, they are taking matters to the brink by appealing to a Republican-dominated Supreme Court in hopes it will put partisanship before people and support their fringe independent legislature doctrine. 

• Republicans willingness to cast aside decades of precedent and our very Constitution for partisan gain is alarming and North Carolinians should pay attention. Our democracy is fragile. We must fight to protect it.