| Chiafalo v. Washington | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued May 13, 2020 Decided July 6, 2020 | |
| Full case name | Peter B. Chiafalo, Levi Jennet Guerra, and Esther Virginia John, Petitioners v. Washington |
| Docket no. | 19-465 |
| Citations | 591 U.S. 578 (more) 140 S. Ct. 2316 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Matter of Guerra, 193 Wash. 2d 380, 441 P.3d 807 (2019); cert. granted, 140 S. Ct. 918 (2020) |
| Holding | |
| A State may enforce an elector's pledge to support his party's nominee—and the state voters' choice—for President. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Kagan, joined by Roberts, Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito, Sotomayor, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh |
| Concurrence | Thomas (in judgment), joined by Gorsuch (Part II) |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. art. II, § 1, cl. 2 | |
| Colorado Department of State v. Baca | |
|---|---|
| |
| Argued May 13, 2020 Decided July 6, 2020 | |
| Full case name | Colorado Department of State, Petitioners v. Micheal Baca, Polly Baca, and Robert Nemanich |
| Docket no. | 19-518 |
| Citations | 591 U.S. 655 (more) |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Baca v. Hickenlooper, No. 16-cv-02986 (D. Colo.) |
| Holding | |
| Judgment of Tenth Circuit reversed in light of Chiafalo v. Washington. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Per curiam | |
| Concurrence | Thomas (in judgment, did not file an opinion) |
| Sotomayor took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. art. II, § 1, cl. 2 | |
Chiafalo v. Washington, 591 U.S. 578 (2020), was a United States Supreme Court case on the issue of "faithless electors" in the Electoral College stemming from the 2016 United States presidential election. The Court ruled unanimously, by a vote of 9–0, that states have the ability to enforce an elector's pledge in presidential elections. Chiafalo deals with electors who received US$1,000 fines for not voting for the nominees of their party in the state of Washington. The case was originally consolidated with Colorado Department of State v. Baca, 591 U.S. ___ (2020), a similar case based on a challenge to a Colorado law providing for the removal and replacement of an elector who does not vote for the presidential candidate who received the most votes in the state, with the electors claiming they have discretion to vote as they choose under the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution.[1][2] On March 10, 2020, Justice Sonia Sotomayor recused herself in the Colorado case due to a prior relationship to a respondent, and the cases were decided separately on July 6, 2020. Baca was a per curiam decision that followed from the unanimous ruling in Chiafalo against the faithless electors and in favor of the state.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Docket 01was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Hutchins, Corey (August 16, 2017). "Electoral College members file voter 'intimidation' lawsuit against Colorado's secretary of state". Colorado Independent.