That's the argument that the Supreme Court considered, and rejected, in Bush v. Gore. (A young Bush lawyer named Brett Kavanaugh was especially enamored of it.) It's the argument that Trump deployed when he tried to nullify millions of votes in 2020. And it's the argument that Ginni Thomas, wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, relied upon when lobbying state legislators to appoint "alternate electors" who would support Trump. And to be fair, it has some superficial appeal: Its proponents like to say that "legislature means legislature," and that's the end of it.
But it's really not, for at least four reasons. First, when the Constitution was written, in 1787, legislature meant more than the specific body of elected representatives who pass laws. The word encompasses the entire power that makes laws—which is why, for instance, a governor can veto a congressional map...
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