Anna Jessurun

The Project

Anna (she/her) will combat the independent state legislature theory by leading the Constitutional Accountability Center’s first Election Amicus Project and filing amicus briefs in courts across the country in litigation surrounding the 2024 election.

The independent state legislature theory (ISLT) is the latest threat to multiracial democracy. ISLT posits that under the Constitution, the state legislature is the only state body with the power to regulate federal elections, and therefore, state courts cannot intervene to enforce state voting rights protections. Under the logic of ISLT, federal courts are the only check on states’ voter suppression—which, given the federal judiciary’s growing hostility to voting rights, is frightening.

In 2023, the Supreme Court will address ISLT head-on in Moore v. Harper, which has been called “without question the most significant case in the history of our nation for American democracy.” Whatever the Court decides in Moore, the questions it leaves open will be heavily litigated as states attempt to use ISLT to disenfranchise voters before the 2024 election.

Fellowship Plans

During her Fellowship, Anna will spearhead the Constitutional Accountability Center’s first Election Amicus Project targeted at protecting voting rights during an election year. She will strategically draft and file amicus briefs in courts across the country to limit ISLT’s impact on the 2024 election. Anna will also publish a white paper on ISLT aimed at educating lawyers, scholars, and organizers about ISLT.

Coming from an immigrant family, Anna understands the power of being able to participate in our democracy. She is dedicated to ensuring that marginalized communities can exercise their right to vote.