Cite as: 558 U. S. ____ (2010) 51 Opinion of STEVENS, J. “ ‘[t]he concept that government may restrict the speech of some elements of our society in order to enhance the rela­ tive voice of others is wholly foreign to the First Amend­ ment.’ ” Ante, at 33 (quoting 424 U. S., at 48–49); ante, at 8 (opinion of ROBERTS, C. J.). But this elegant phrase cannot bear the weight that our colleagues have placed on it. For one thing, the Constitution does, in fact, permit numerous “restrictions on the speech of some in order to prevent a few from drowning out the many”: for example, restrictions on ballot access and on legislators’ floor time. Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC, 528 U. S. 377, 402 (2000) (BREYER, J., concurring). For another, the Buckley Court used this line in evaluating “the ancillary governmental interest in equalizing the relative ability of individuals and groups to influence the outcome of elec­ tions.” 424 U. S., at 48. It is not apparent why this is relevant to the case before us. The majority suggests that Austin rests on the foreign concept of speech equalization, ante, at 34; ante, at 8–10 (opinion of ROBERTS, C. J.), but we made it clear in Austin (as in several cases before and since) that a restriction on the way corporations spend their money is no mere exercise in disfavoring the voice of some elements of our society in preference to others. Indeed, we expressly ruled that the compelling interest supporting Michigan’s statute was not one of “ ‘equaliz[ing] the relative influence of speakers on elections,’ ” Austin, 494 U. S., at 660 (quoting id., at 705 (KENNEDY, J., dis­ senting)), but rather the need to confront the distinctive corrupting potential of corporate electoral advocacy fi­ nanced by general treasury dollars, id., at 659–660. For that matter, it should go without saying that when we made this statement in Buckley, we could not have been casting doubt on the restriction on corporate expendi­ tures in candidate elections, which had not been chal­ lenged as “foreign to the First Amendment,” ante, at 33 (quoting Buckley, 424 U. S., at 49), or for any other reason.