Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/17pdf/16-980_f2q3.pdf
Page Number: 38.0

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

11 

BREYER, J., dissenting 

nonforwardable  mailings  as  a  reasonable  method  for 
States  to  use  at  step  1  to  identify  registrants  whose  ad-
dresses  may  have  changed  before  the  State  proceeds  to 
step  2  and  sends  the  forwardable  notice  required  under 
subsection  (d)’s  Confirmation  Procedure.    Specifically, 
§6(d) explains that, if a State sends its registrants a mail-
ing by nonforwardable mail (which States often do), and if 
“[that  mailing]  is  returned  undelivered,”  the  State  has  a 
fairly good reason for believing that the person has moved 
and  therefore  “may  proceed  in  accordance  with”  §8(d)  by 
sending  the  “last  chance”  forwardable  notice  that  the 
Confirmation  Procedure  requires.   §20505(d).   In  contrast 
to a nonforwardable notice that is returned undeliverable, 
which tells the State that a registrant has likely moved, a 
forwardable  notice  that  elicits  no  response  whatsoever 
tells the State close to nothing at all.  That is because, as I 
shall discuss, most people who receive confirmation notices 
from the  State  simply do  not  send  back  the  “return  card” 
attached  to  that  mailing—whether  they  have  moved  or 
not. 
  In sum, §6(d), just like §§8(a) and 8(c), indicates that the 
State, as an initial matter, must use a reasonable method 
to  identify  a  person who  has  likely  moved  and  then  must 
send  that  person  a  confirmatory  notice  that  will  in  effect 
give him a “last chance” to remain on the rolls.  And these 
provisions thus tend to deny, not to support, the majority’s 
suggestion that somehow sending a “last chance” notice is 
itself  a  way  (other  than  nonvoting)  to  identify  someone 
who has likely moved. 
  I  concede  that  some  individuals  who  have,  in  fact, 
moved  do,  in  fact,  send  a  return  card  back  to  the  State 
making clear that they have moved.  And some registrants 
do  send  back  a  card  saying  that  they  have  not  moved.  
Thus,  the  Confirmation  Procedure  will  sometimes  help 
provide  confirmation  of  what  the  initial  identification 
procedure  is  supposed  to  accomplish:  finding  registrants