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6 

ARIZONA v. INTER TRIBAL COUNCIL OF ARIZ. INC. 

Opinion of the Court 

bility for the mechanics of congressional elections, but only
so  far  as  Congress  declines  to  pre-empt  state  legislative 
choices.”  Foster  v.  Love,  522  U. S.  67,  69  (1997)  (citation 
omitted).  The  power  of  Congress  over  the  “Times,  Places
and Manner” of congressional elections “is paramount, and 
may be exercised at any time,  and to any extent which  it 
deems  expedient;  and  so  far  as  it  is  exercised,  and  no
farther,  the  regulations  effected  supersede  those  of  the 
State which are inconsistent therewith.”  Ex parte Siebold, 
100 U. S. 371, 392 (1880). 

B 
The  straightforward  textual  question  here  is  whether
Ariz.  Rev.  Stat.  Ann.  §16–166(F),  which  requires  state
officials  to  “reject”  a  Federal  Form  unaccompanied  by 
documentary  evidence  of  citizenship,  conflicts  with  the 
NVRA’s  mandate  that  Arizona  “accept  and  use”  the  Fed-
eral  Form.  If  so,  the  state  law,  “so  far  as  the  conflict  ex-
tends, ceases to be operative.”  Siebold, supra, at 384.  In 
Arizona’s  view,  these  seemingly  incompatible  obligations
can  be  read  to  operate  harmoniously:  The  NVRA,  it  con-
tends,  requires  merely  that  a  State  receive  the  Federal 
Form  willingly  and  use  that  form  as  one  element  in  its 
(perhaps lengthy) transaction with a prospective voter.

Taken in isolation, the mandate that a State “accept and 
use”  the  Federal  Form  is  fairly  susceptible  of  two  inter-
pretations.    It  might  mean  that  a  State  must  accept  the 
Federal Form as a complete and sufficient registration ap-
plication; or it might mean that the State is merely required 
to  receive  the  form  willingly  and  use  it  somehow  in  its 
voter  registration  process.  Both  readings—“receive  will-
ingly” and  “accept as sufficient”—are compatible with the 
plain meaning of the word “accept.”  See 1 Oxford English
Dictionary  70  (2d  ed.  1989)  (“To  take  or  receive  (a  thing 
offered)  willingly”;  “To  receive  as  sufficient  or  adequate”); 
Webster’s  New  International  Dictionary  14  (2d  ed.  1954)