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Page Number: 56

18 

MOORE v. HARPER 

THOMAS, J., dissenting 

sought  to  be  imposed  by  the  people  of  a  State.”    Leser  v. 
Garnett, 258 U. S. 130, 137 (1922).

The second premise is that regulating the times, places, 
and manner of congressional elections “ ‘is no original pre-
rogative of state power,’ ” so that “such power ‘had to be del-
egated  to,  rather  than  reserved  by,  the  States.’ ”    Cook  v. 
Gralike, 531 U. S. 510, 522 (2001) (first quoting 1 J. Story, 
Commentaries  on  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
§627 (3d ed. 1858) (Story); then quoting U. S. Term Limits, 
Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U. S. 779, 804 (1995)).  This premise
is firmly supported by this Court’s precedents, which have
also held that the Elections Clause is “the exclusive delega-
tion of ” such power, as “[n]o other constitutional provision 
gives  the  States  authority  over  congressional  elections.” 
Cook, 531 U. S., at 522–523; see also United States v. Clas-
sic, 313 U. S. 299, 315 (1941) (“While, in a loose sense, the 
right to vote for representatives in Congress is sometimes
spoken of as a right derived from the states, this statement 
is true only in the sense that the states are authorized by 
the Constitution, to legislate on the subject as provided by
[the Elections Clause]” (citations omitted)).

The third premise is that “the Legislature thereof ” does 
not mean the people of the State or the State as an undif-
ferentiated body politic, but, rather, the lawmaking power 
as it exists under the State Constitution.  This premise com-
ports with the usual constitutional meanings of the words
“State”  and  “Legislature,”  as  well  as  this  Court’s  prece-
dents.  “A state, and the legislature of a state, are quite dif-
ferent political beings.”  Story §628.  “A state, in the ordi-
nary sense of the Constitution, is a political community of
free citizens . . . organized under a government sanctioned 
and  limited  by  a  written  constitution.”    Texas  v.  White,  7 
Wall. 700, 721 (1869).  “ ‘Legislature,’ ” on the other hand, 
generally  means  “ ‘the  representative  body  which  ma[kes] 
the laws of the people.’ ”  Smiley v. Holm, 285 U. S. 355, 365 
(1932) (quoting Hawke v. Smith, 253 U. S. 221, 227 (1920)).