Chiafalo v. Washington
Decided July 6, 2020. Elena Kagan delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 19-465 · 591 U.S. 578 (2020) · Cited 37 times
Holding
A State may enforce an elector’s pledge to support his party’s nominee—and the state voters’ choice—for President.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court. Read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 9–0.
Majority · 8
- John G. Roberts, Jr.
- Samuel A. Alito, Jr.
- Sonia Sotomayor
- Elena Kagan · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Neil M. Gorsuch
- Brett M. Kavanaugh
- Stephen G. Breyer
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Concurring · 1
- Clarence Thomas · filed an opinion concurring in the judgment
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- U. S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton · 514 U.S. 779 (1995)
- Ray v. Blair · 343 U.S. 214 (1952)
- McPherson v. Blacker · 146 U.S. 1 (1892)
- United States v. Comstock · 560 U.S. 126 (2010)
- Alden v. Maine · 527 U.S. 706 (1999)
- Williams v. Rhodes · 393 U.S. 23 (1968)
- Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority · 469 U.S. 528 (1985)
- New York v. United States · 505 U.S. 144 (1992)
- United States v. Darby · 312 U.S. 100 (1941)
- Law v. Siegel · 571 U.S. 415 (2014)
- Lexecon Inc. v. Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach · 523 U.S. 26 (1998)
- The Pocket Veto Case · 279 U.S. 655 (1929)
- Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Comm'n · 576 U.S. 787 (2015)
- Thryv, Inc. v. Click-To-Call Technologies, LP · 590 U.S. 45 (2020)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Trump v. United States · 603 U.S. 593 (2024)
- SEC v. Jarkesy · 603 U.S. 109 (2024)
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Assn. of America, Ltd. · 601 U.S. 416 (2024)
Official text
Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)
Explore from here
Elena Kagan’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2020). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).