Cite as: 504 U. S. 191 (1992)
Stevens, J., dissenting
We have never regarded tradition as a proxy for necessity where necessity must be demonstrated. To the contrary, our election-law jurisprudence is rich with examples of traditions that, though longstanding, were later held to be unnecessary. For example, "[m]ost of the early Colonies had [poll taxes]; many of the States have had them during much of their histories . . . ." Harper v. Virginia Bd. of Elections, 383 U. S. 663, 684 (1966) (Harlan, J., dissenting). Similarly, substantial barriers to candidacy, such as stringent petition requirements, see Williams v. Rhodes, 393 U. S. 23 (1968), property-ownership requirements, see Turner v. Fouche, 396 U. S. 346 (1970), and onerous filing fees, see Lubin v. Panish, 415 U. S. 709 (1974), were all longstanding features of the electoral labyrinth.
In fact, two of our most noted decisions in this area involve, as does this case, Tennessee's electoral traditions. Dunn v. Blumstein, 405 U. S. 330 (1972), which invalidated Tennessee's 1-year residency requirement, is particularly instructive. Tennessee's residency requirement was indisputably "traditional," having been in place since 1870. App. in Dunn v. Blumstein, O. T. 1971, No. 13, p. 22. As in this case, the State defended its law on the basis of its interest in " 'secur[ing] the freedom of elections and the purity of the ballot box.' " Id., at 23. Again like this case, Dunn involved a conflict between two rights—the right to travel and the right to vote. The Court applied strict scrutiny, ruling that residency requirements are "unconstitutional unless the State can demonstrate that such laws are 'necessary to promote a compelling governmental interest.' " 405 U. S., at 342 (emphasis in original) (citation omitted). Although we recognized that "[p]reservation of the 'purity of the ballot box' is a formidable-sounding state interest," id., at 345, we rejected the State's argument that a 1-year requirement was necessary to promote that interest. In doing so, we did not even mention, let alone find determinative, the fact that Tennessee's requirement was more than 100 years old.
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