2 CHIAFALO v. WASHINGTON THOMAS, J., concurring in judgment The only provision in the Constitution that arguably addresses a State’s power over Presidential electors is Clause 2 of Article II, §1. That Clause provides, in relevant part, that “[e]ach State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors.” As I have previously explained, this language “imposes an affirmative obligation on the States” to establish the manner for appointing electors. U. S. Term Limits, 514 U. S., at 864 (dissenting opinion). By using the term “shall,” “the Clause expressly requires action by the States.” Id., at 862 (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Maine Community Health Options v. United States, 590 U. S. ___, ___ (2020) (slip op., at 12) (“The first sign that the statute imposed an obligation is its mandatory language: ‘shall’ ”); Lexecon Inc. v. Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, 523 U. S. 26, 35 (1998) (recognizing that “ ‘shall’ [n]ormally creates an obligation”). This obligation to provide the manner of appointing electors does not expressly delegate power to States; it simply imposes an affirmative duty. See U. S. Term Limits, supra, at 862–863 (THOMAS, J., dissenting). B In a somewhat cursory analysis, the Court concludes that the States’ duty to appoint electors “in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct,” Art. II, §1, cl. 2, provides an express grant of “power to appoint an elector.” Ante, at 9. As explained above, this interpretation erroneously conflates the imposition of a duty with the granting of a power. But even setting that issue aside, I cannot agree with the Court’s analysis. The Court appears to misinterpret Article II, §1, by overreading its language as authorizing the broad power to impose and enforce substantive conditions on appointment. The Court then misconstrues the State of Washington’s law as enforcing a condition of appointment.