Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/19-465_i425.pdf
Page Number: 30.0

Cite as:  591 U. S. ____ (2020) 

9 

THOMAS, J., concurring in judgment 

other condition of appointment.  In fact, it did not even men-
tion  a  pledge,  which  was  set  forth  in  a  separate,  unrefer-
enced provision.  See §29A.56.320.  Thus, §29A.56.340 had 
no connection to the appointment process and could be en-
forced independent of the existence of any pledge require-
ment.  While the Court’s description of §29A.56.340 as a law 
enforcing a condition of appointment may be helpful for the 
Court’s claim that Washington’s law was rooted in Article 
II, §1’s “power to appoint,” it is simply not accurate.  Thus, 
even  accepting  the  Court’s  strained  reading  of  Article  II, 
§1’s text, I cannot agree with the Court’s effort to reconcile 
Washington’s law with its desired theory. 

In short, the Constitution does not speak to States’ power
to  require  Presidential  electors  to  vote  for  the  candidates 
chosen by the people.  The Court’s attempt to ground such
a power in Article II’s text falls short.  Rather than contort 
the language of both Article II and the state statute, I would 
acknowledge  that  the  Constitution  simply  says  nothing
about the States’ power in this regard. 

II 
When  the  Constitution  is  silent,  authority  resides  with
the States or the people.  This allocation of power is both 
embodied in the structure of our Constitution and expressly 
required by the Tenth Amendment.  The application of this
fundamental principle should guide our decision here. 

A 

“The ultimate source of the Constitution’s authority is the 
consent of the people of each individual State.”  U. S. Term 
Limits,  514  U. S.,  at  846  (THOMAS,  J.,  dissenting).  When 
the States ratified the Federal Constitution, the people of
each State acquiesced in the transfer of limited power to the 
Federal  Government.  They  ceded  only  those  powers
granted  to  the  Federal  Government  by  the  Constitution.