Trump v. California · ¶48

Our Constitution expressly delegates the power to conduct federal elections to the States. See U. S. Const., Art. I, §4; see also Watson v. Republican National Committee, 609 U. S. ＿＿＿, ＿＿＿ (2026) (slip op., at 1); U. S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U. S. 779, 805 (1995). Accordingly, “elections in this country” have long been “administered at the state and local level.” H. R. Rep. No. 107–329, pt. 1, p. 31 (2001). This “dispersal of responsibility for election administration has made it impossible for a single centrally controlled authority to dictate how elections will be run, and thereby be able to control the outcome.” Id., at 32. State-run elections are thus both foundational to democracy and a key part of the self-governance scheme our Constitution establishes.

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