Watson v. Republican National Committee · ¶99

The majority separately worries that using historical practice to interpret the phrase “election” might “tra[p]” States’ election practices “in amber.” Ante, at 14 (internal quotation marks omitted). But the policy of collecting all ballots by election day is entirely consistent with—indeed, is compelled by—the text, context, and history of the election-day statutes, and one reason for codifying legal rules in a statute is to “trap” those rules “in amber” until they are amended. Moreover, the majority’s worries are exaggerated. All agree that the relevant provisions of the election- day statutes regulate only “the time of the election.” Ante, at 6 (quoting Foster v. Love, 522 U. S. 67, 71–72 (1997)). So to the extent that historical practice informs the interpretation of these statutes, it informs only the timing of election processes, not their manner. See also U. S. Const., Art. II,…

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