Election Governance: The Role of the States
In the last year, a number of issues concerning the governance of elections have come to the forefront by means of U.S. Supreme Court decisions, provisions of Trump Administration Executive Orders, and lawsuits filed in response by collections of states and individuals. While the particular details of the cases are unique, each pertains to Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution – the role states have in determining the “times, places, and manner of holding elections.”
Two Executive Orders – “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections (E.O. 14248)” and “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections (E.O. 14399)” – signed on March 25, 2025 and March 31, 2026 respectively, assert the power of the Executive branch in election processes. On April 24, 2026, after the signing of E.O. 14399, several states, including Oregon, filed a motion for summary judgment to permanently block the order; the court has ordered the Trump Administration to file its response and related motions by Thursday, May 7, 2026. The hearing on the motions scheduled for June 2, 2026 will have implications for the November midterm elections.
In a separate and yet parallel question of state election law, the U.S. Supreme Court’s April 29, 2026 decision in Louisiana v. Callais ruled that Louisiana’s districting map was an “unconstitutional racial gerrymander,” and that the focus of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, “properly understood,” should be the “enforcement of the Fifteenth Amendment’s prohibition on intentional racial discrimination,” still allowing broadly for redistricting in order to achieve partisan advantage. The dissenting opinion called the burden of proof of intentional racial discrimination “well-nigh impossible,” noting that previously the burden was that redistricting “resulted in” districts that unfairly minimized the efficacy of votes from racial minorities. The Supreme Court’s decision changes the understanding of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which was passed by Congress in order to rein in state freedom to determine election practices that posed a violation of the Civil Rights Act (1964). After the Louisiana v. Callais decision, many states began redistricting efforts almost immediately.
Overall, the scope of an individual state’s power to determine election practices is at issue in each of these recent cases, making an understanding of federalism and the means by which voters elect representatives urgently important. This issue of Current Events is an effort to put election questions of the past year in tandem, allowing for a more nuanced and robust examination of the role of states in the election process.
Essential Questions:
- What is the role of the Executive Branch in governing elections?
- How does redistricting affect elections in states?
- What power do states have to determine the mechanism citizens use for voting?
- How does the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais influence states’ governance of elections?
- What is the importance of federalism in maintaining election integrity?
Vocabulary:
Federalism – division and sharing of power between the national and state governments. In the United States, the federal government has the power to regulate trade between states, declare war, manage the mail, and print money—among several other powers. State governments have their own set of powers too. States generally oversee education, roads, drivers’ licenses, police departments, elections, and more. Notably, all power not granted to the federal government is reserved to the states and the people. (State Policy Network)
Gerrymandering – Gerrymandering is the deliberate manipulation of electoral district boundaries to give one political party, incumbent, or group an unfair advantage.
Voting Rights Act – This act was signed into law on August 6, 1965, by President Lyndon Johnson. It outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting (National Archives)
Article 1, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution – “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators” (Constitution Annotated)
Representative Democracy – a form of government in which the people elect representatives to make decisions, policies, laws, etc.. Power is exercised by the people through their elected representatives.
Videos:
Background Resources:
Federal Role in U.S. Campaigns and Elections: An Overview, Congress.gov, Accessed May 5, 2026
States Decide How Elections are Run, National Conference of State Legislatures, July 9, 2025
How Oregon Became the First State to Vote by Mail in a Presidential Election, Oregon Public Broadcasting, June 19, 2020
Vote-by-Mail Programs Date Back to the Civil War, History.com, September 24, 2020
Article I, Section 4, Clause 1, Library of Congress: The Constitution Annotated, Accessed May 5, 2026
Recent Articles:
Trump is Trying to Restrict Mail-In Voting. Will It Affect Oregon’s Election? KGW8 News, May 6, 2026
Supreme Court Tackles the Fate of Late Mail-In Ballots, National Constitution Center, March 26, 2026
State Voting Rights Acts, National Conference of State Legislatures, May 1, 2026
The Supreme Court’s Callais Decision Sets New Framework for Racial Gerrymandering, National Constitution Center, April 30, 2026
States, Not the President, Run Elections in America, State Court Report, October 21, 2025
Why Do States Run Federal Elections? History.com, February 4, 2026
Attorney General Rayfield Moves to Permanently Block Trump’s Executive Order Restricting Mail Voting, Exerting Control Over Elections,Oregon Department of Justice, April 24, 2026
Recent Editorials:
The Truth About Oregon’s Mail-In Ballots, Oregon Capital Chronicle, April 27, 2026
Supreme Court Voting Rights Ruling Set to Reshape Local Power from Statehouses to School Boards, Stateline.org, May 4, 2026
Statement from Asian Law Caucus on Supreme Court Decision in Louisiana v. Callais, Asian Law Caucus, April 29, 2026
Why Conservatives Must Prove Commitment to Voting Access, The Tennessean, May 4, 2026
Lesson Plans:
Constitutional Change Is Happening – State Court Systems Explained, State Court Report, January 25, 2024
Voting and Elections, Center for Civic Education, Accessed May 05, 2026
Reapportionment and Redistricting, Retro Report, Accessed May 05, 2026
What to Know about Gerrymandering and Redistricting, Bipartisan Policy Center, August 8, 2025
Voting Rights Act (1965), National Archives, Accessed May 06, 2026
Midterms Minilesson, iCivics.org, Accessed May 6, 2026
Resources for Younger Students:
Cast Your Vote, iCivics.org, Accessed May 6, 2026
My Vote Counts, PBS, Accessed May 6, 2026