Cite as: 600 U. S. ____ (2023)
17
Opinion of the Court
making its regulations under the same provision would be
subject to the veto power of the President.” Ibid.; see also
Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U. S. 1, 6 (1964) (Congress does
not have “exclusive authority” under the Elections Clause,
independent of other federal constitutional provisions).
And “long and continuous interpretation” as evidenced by
“the established practice in the states” provided further
support. Smiley, 285 U. S., at 369. We noted that many
state constitutions had adopted provisions allowing for executive vetoes, “and that the uniform practice . . . has been
to provide for congressional districts by the enactment of
statutes with the participation of the Governor wherever
the state constitution provided for such participation.” Id.,
at 370.
This Court recently reinforced the teachings of Hildebrant and Smiley in a case considering the constitutionality
of an Arizona ballot initiative. Voters “amended Arizona’s
Constitution to remove redistricting authority from the Arizona Legislature and vest that authority in an independent
commission.” Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Comm’n, 576 U. S. 787, 792 (2015).
The Arizona Legislature challenged a congressional map
adopted by the commission, arguing that the Elections
“Clause precludes resort to an independent commission . . .
to accomplish redistricting.” Ibid. A divided Court rejected
that argument. The majority reasoned that dictionaries of
“the founding era . . . capaciously define[d] the word ‘legislature,’ ” id., at 813–814, and concluded that the people of
Arizona retained the authority to create “an alternative legislative process” by vesting the lawmaking power of redistricting in an independent commission, id., at 817. The
Court ruled, in short, that although the Elections Clause
expressly refers to the “Legislature,” it does not preclude a
State from vesting congressional redistricting authority in
a body other than the elected group of officials who ordinarily exercise lawmaking power. States, the Court explained,