Cite as: 517 U. S. 186 (1996)
Thomas, J., dissenting
I therefore fail to see how the selection of a party's candidate for United States Senator is a public electoral function. Cf. ante, at 194-195 (opinion of Stevens, J.).14
In asking whether the Party acted under authority of the State in selecting its nominee at the convention, the Court emphasizes that Virginia automatically grants ballot access to the nominees of political parties, as defined by statute. See ante, at 195-198; ante, at 238 (Breyer, J., concurring in judgment). It does not follow from that fact, however, that "the Party exercised delegated state power when it certified its nominee for automatic placement on Virginia's general election ballot." Ante, at 195 (opinion of Stevens, J.). The formulation of rules for deciding which individuals enjoy sufficient public support to warrant placement on the ballot, and the actual placement of those candidates on the ballot, are indeed part of the traditional power of the States to manage elections. See Burdick v. Takushi, 504 U. S. 428, 433 (1992). But these criteria are established exclusively and definitively by the State of Virginia—not the Party—in the Virginia Code. See Va. Code Ann. §§ 24.2-101, 24.2-511 (1993) (providing ballot access for certified nominees of organizations of Virginia citizens that receive, in either of the last two statewide general elections, at least 10 percent of the total votes cast). Justice Stevens is flatly wrong when he asserts that political parties in Virginia "are effectively granted the power to enact their own qualifications for placement of candidates on the ballot." Ante, at 197. Also, it is the Commonwealth of Virginia, not the Party itself, that has eliminated the Party's need to present a petition in support of its candidate. Cf. ante, at 197-198; Va. Code Ann. § 24.2-511(D) (1993) ("No further notice of candidacy or petition shall be
14 Contrary to the representation of Justice Stevens, ante, at 194-195, the Party explicitly denies that it engaged in any public electoral function. See Brief for Appellees 30 ("The Virginia statutes cited by the law students do not show the exercise of public electoral functions . . . by the Party").
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