Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/12pdf/12-71_7l48.pdf
Page Number: 32.0

8 

ARIZONA v. INTER TRIBAL COUNCIL OF ARIZ. INC. 

THOMAS, J., dissenting 

authority to set voter qualifications and to verify that they 
are met. 

B 
Both  text  and  history  confirm  that  States  have  the  ex-
clusive  authority  to  set  voter  qualifications  and  to  de- 
termine  whether  those  qualifications  are  satisfied.    The 
United  States  nevertheless  argues  that  Congress  has  the 
authority  under  Article  I,  §4,  “to  set  the  rules  for  voter
registration  in  federal  elections.”    Brief  for  United  States 
as  Amicus  Curiae  33  (hereafter  Brief  for  United  States). 
Neither the text nor the original understanding of Article 
I, §4, supports that position. 

1 

Article  I,  §4,  gives  States  primary  responsibility  for 
regulating  the  “Times,  Places  and  Manner  of  holding 
Elections” and authorizes Congress to “at any time by Law
make  or  alter  such  Regulations.”1    Along  with  the  Seven-
teenth Amendment, this provision grants Congress power
only over the “when, where, and how” of holding congres-
sional elections.  T. Parsons, Notes of Convention Debates, 
Jan.  16,  1788,  in  6  Documentary  History  of  the  Ratifica-
tion  of  the Constitution  1211  (J. Kaminski  &  G.  Saladino 
eds.  2000)  (hereinafter  Documentary  History)  (Massachu-
setts  ratification  delegate  Sedgwick)  (emphasis  omitted); 
see also ante, at 13 (“Arizona is correct that [Article I, §4,]
empowers  Congress  to  regulate  how  federal  elections  are 
held, but not who may vote in them”). 

Prior  to  the  Constitution’s  ratification,  the  phrase
“manner  of  election”  was  commonly  used  in  England,
Scotland,  Ireland,  and  North  America  to  describe  the 

—————— 

1 The  majority  refers  to  Article  I,  §4,  cl. 1,  as  the  “Elections  Clause.”
See, e.g., ante, at 4.  Since there are a number of Clauses in the Consti-
tution  dealing  with  elections,  I  refer  to  it  using  the  more  descriptive 
term, Times, Places and Manner Clause.