Watson v. Republican National Committee · ¶30

We have likewise defined “election” as the expression of the electorate’s choice. “From time immemorial,” we have observed, “an election to public office has been in point of substance no more and no less than the expression by qualified electors of their choice of candidates.” United States v. Classic, 313 U. S. 299, 318 (1941); see Republican National Committee v. Democratic National Committee, 589 U. S. 423, 424 (2020) (per curiam) (explaining that a “fundamenta[l]” aspect of an election is ballot “cast[ing],” as distinguished from ballot “recei[pt]”). And when we interpreted the election-day statutes for the first (and until now, the only) time, we again emphasized the voters’ choice. In Foster, we explained that “[w]hen the federal statutes speak of ‘the election’ of a Senator or Representative, they plainly refer to the combined actions of voters and officials meant to make a…

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