526
Opinion of the Court
regulating the procedural mechanisms of elections, Article VIII attempts to "dictate electoral outcomes." U. S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U. S., at 833-834. Such "regulation" of congressional elections simply is not authorized by the Elections Clause.20
a sanction similar to the ballot labels included in Article VIII, some Representatives explained that they were constrained to vote only for the version endorsed by the voters of their States, and to vote against differing versions proposed by congressional members from other States, even though they were supportive of term limits generally. See, e. g., id., at H486 (remarks of Rep. Hutchinson) ("I will vote against the bill of the gentleman from Florida [Mr. McCollum], not because I am opposed to term limits but because this particular resolution does not comply with the term limit instructions approved by the voters and the people of Arkansas"); id., at H490 (remarks of Rep. Crapo) ("Last Congress I supported the McCollum term limits bill that, as I said, supported a 12-year term limit. However, in this Congress I must oppose this bill because of the initiative passed by the people of the State of Idaho which requires me to oppose any term limits measure that does not have the same set of term limit conditions that are included in the initiative that was passed in the State"). As Representative Frank of Massachusetts put it, "[e]very State's Members get to vote on their State's term limits so they make them feel better and they do not get the scarlet letter." Id., at H487. Consequently, the most popular proposal for such an amendment, that of Representative McCollum of Florida, received 217 votes, 10 fewer than it had in the preceding Congress. Id., at H511. As for the Missouri version, it suffered a 353-to-72 defeat. Id., at H497.
20 At the margins, the parties have fought over whether the Elections Clause is even applicable because it is a grant of power to "each State by the Legislature thereof" and Article VIII is the product of referendum. Compare Brief for Petitioner 38, n. 46, with Brief for Respondents 12-13, n. 8. Of course, "[w]herever the term 'legislature' is used in the Constitution, it is necessary to consider the nature of the particular action in view." Smiley v. Holm, 285 U. S. 355, 366 (1932). Nevertheless, we need not delve into this inquiry, as it is clear, for the reasons stated in the text, that Article VIII is not authorized by the Elections Clause.
In discussing the Elections Clause issue, respondents have also relied in part on First Amendment cases upholding "time, place, and manner" regulations of speech. Brief for Respondents 13-14. Although the Elections Clause uses the same phrase as that branch of our First Amendment
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