Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/17pdf/16-980_f2q3.pdf
Page Number: 42.0

Cite as:  584 U. S. ____ (2018) 

15 

BREYER, J., dissenting 

. . . by reason of the person’s failure to vote.”  §20507(b)(2); 
see supra, at 3.  The “Clarification” adds: 

“except  that  nothing  in  this  paragraph  may  be  con-
strued  to  prohibit  a  State  from  using  the  procedures 
described in subsections (c) and (d) to remove an indi-
vidual from the official list of eligible voters if the in-
dividual—(A)  has  not  either  notified  the  applicable 
registrar (in person or in writing) or responded . . . to 
the [confirmation] notice sent by the applicable regis-
trar; and then (B) has not voted or appeared to vote in 
2 or more consecutive general elections for Federal of-
fice.”  §903, id., at 1728 (emphasis added). 

  This amendment simply clarified that the use of nonvot-
ing specified in subsections (c) and (d) does not violate the 
Failure-to-Vote  Clause.    The  majority  asks  why,  if  the 
matter  is  so  simple,  Congress  added  the  new  language  at 
all.    The  answer  to  this  question  is  just  what  the  title 
attached  to  the  new  language  says,  namely,  Congress 
added the new language for purposes of clarification.  And 
the new language clarified any confusion States may have 
had  about  the  relationship  between,  on  the  one  hand, 
subsection (b)’s broad prohibition on any use of a person’s 
failure  to  vote  in  removal  programs  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  requirement  in  subsections  (c)  and  (d)  that  a 
State  consider  whether  a  registrant  has  failed  to  vote  at 
the end of the Confirmation Procedure.  This reading finds 
support  in  several  other  provisions  in  both  the  National 
Voter  Registration  Act  and  the  Help  America  Vote  
Act,  which  make  similar  clarifications. 
  See,  e.g., 
§20507(c)(2)(B)  (clarifying  that  a  particular  prohibition 
“shall  not  be  construed  to  preclude”  States  from  comply- 
ing  with  separate  statutory  obligations);  see  also 
§§20510(d)(2)  (similar  rule  of  construction),  21081(c)(1), 
21083(a)(1)(B), (a)(2)(A)(iii), (b)(5), (d)(1)(A)–(B); 21084. 
  The  majority  also  points  out  that  another  provision  of