If … H.R.1 [passes] this summer, lawsuits would appear quickly. H.R.1 says legal challenges must be brought in the federal courts of the District of Columbia. Given the judicial makeup there, perhaps the law would be upheld at first. How long would it take to reach the Supreme Court? The midterms are 18 months out, and the first primaries are only 10 months away.
State officials would have to prepare to comply with H.R.1’s terms, or not. Some states could resist, saying it’s infeasible to adopt new election procedures on a short timeline. H.R.1’s backers would sue to force compliance. Courts would come down differently on which voting rules to enforce immediately. It sounds like last year’s pandemic mess all over again.
In a nightmare scenario, a challenge to H.R.1 could reach the Supreme Court perhaps in September 2022, as early voting is gearing up. The November elections might go forward under a variety of different judicial H.R.1 kludges. But then if the Justices struck down the law in 2023, they would put a cloud over a sitting Congress elected by unconstitutional rules. From the Wall Street Journal.