ARTICLE II

Issues

This case asks whether a state may sanction a presidential elector who does not vote according to the state’s legislatively mandated procedures for how presidential electors must vote. The Electoral College is comprised of each state’s electors based on its number of U.S. senators and representatives. Under Article II of the Constitution, each state selects the presidential electors who will cast the state’s allotted votes for the President and Vice President. In Washington State, each political party selects a group of electors who will represent the State if their candidate receives the most votes on Election Day in November. Washington law requires that each of its appointed electors pledge that they will vote for the candidate nominated by their party. Anyone who does not fulfill this pledge and becomes a “faithless elector” is subject to a civil penalty of up to $1,000. Petitioners Chiafalo, Guerra, and John were fined after violating their pledge. They argue that Washington’s law sanctioning faithless electors is unconstitutional because the Constitution forbids the states from controlling or imposing any conditions on its state’s presidential electors. Respondent Washington State counters that the Constitution does not impose any conditions on the methods that states use to select their electors and therefore, states can choose whether or not to impose any restrictions on their presidential electors. The outcome of this case has implications on the 2020 presidential election, the institutional legitimacy of the Electoral College, and state involvement with presidential electors.

Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties

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Issues

This case asks the Court to decide whether presidential electors can exercise discretion when  casting their electoral votes for the President and Vice President, even if such votes are inconsistent with the appointing state’s popular vote and violate that state’s law binding electors to the state’s popular vote. For the 2016 general election, the Colorado Democratic Party appointed Michael Baca as one of its nine presidential electors. And when Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in Colorado, state law required Michael Baca to cast his electoral vote for her. Michael Baca, however, voted for John Kasich. Petitioner, the Colorado Department of State (“Colorado”), subsequently removed Michael Baca from office and cancelled his electoral vote. Colorado first argues that Michael Baca lacks standing to sue because he was not personally injured by his removal from office. And second, that Article II of the Constitution and the Twelfth Amendment empowers states to control their electors. Respondents, Michael Baca and two other electors (the “Electors”), counter that they do have standing to sue because their removal from office and cancellation of their vote constitute a concrete, personal injury. Further, the Electors assert that under the text and history of Article II and the Twelfth Amendment, they have discretion when casting their electoral vote. The outcome of this case has implications for the future of the electoral system, the meaning of the popular vote, and the likelihood of fraud and corruption.

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Issues

This case asks the Supreme Court to decide whether a grand-jury subpoena served on the president’s accounting firm that demands 10 years’ worth of the president’s financial records comports with the Constitution. President Trump argues that Article II renders the president categorically immune to any criminal process while in office. This is especially so here, President Trump argues, where the Supremacy Clause asserts the primacy of federal interests over those of state courts, and where the criminal nature of the subpoena imposes a stigma. Vance counters that Article II and the Supremacy Clause do not apply where the particular legal process does not implicate or impinge on the president’s official conduct. Vance points to the Court’s centuries-long practice of enforcing presidential subpoenas. The outcome of this case will significantly affect local officials’ ability to launch investigations into matters concerning sitting presidents, as well as presidents’ immunity from grand jury investigations while in office.

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