Cite as: 588 U. S. ____ (2019)
9
Opinion of the Court
tions” for Members of Congress, while giving Congress the
power to “make or alter” any such regulations. Whether to
give that supervisory authority to the National Government was debated at the Constitutional Convention.
When those opposed to such congressional oversight
moved to strike the relevant language, Madison came to
its defense:
“[T]he State Legislatures will sometimes fail or refuse
to consult the common interest at the expense of their
local coveniency or prejudices. . . . Whenever the
State Legislatures had a favorite measure to carry,
they would take care so to mould their regulations as
to favor the candidates they wished to succeed.” 2
Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, at 240–
241.
During the subsequent fight for ratification, the provision remained a subject of debate. Antifederalists predicted
that Congress’s power under the Elections Clause would
allow Congress to make itself “omnipotent,” setting the
“time” of elections as never or the “place” in difficult to
reach corners of the State. Federalists responded that,
among other justifications, the revisionary power was
necessary to counter state legislatures set on undermining
fair representation, including through malapportionment.
M. Klarman, The Framers’ Coup: The Making of the United
States Constitution 340–342 (2016). The Federalists were,
for example, concerned that newly developing population
centers would be deprived of their proper electoral weight,
as some cities had been in Great Britain. See 6 The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution:
Massachusetts 1278–1279 (J. Kaminski & G. Saladino
eds. 2000).
Congress has regularly exercised its Elections Clause
power, including to address partisan gerrymandering.
The Apportionment Act of 1842, which required single-