Cite as: 512 U. S. 874 (1994)
Opinion of O'Connor, J.
401-402 (1991), that, at least for determining threshold coverage, §§ 2 and 5 have parallel scope.
But determining the threshold scope of coverage does not end the inquiry, at least so far as § 2 dilution challenges are concerned. As Justices Kennedy and Blackmun agree, the fact that the size of a governing authority is a "standard, practice, or procedure" does not answer the question whether respondents may maintain a § 2 vote dilution challenge. See ante, at 880 (opinion of Kennedy, J.); post, at 951 (Blackmun, J., dissenting). Section 2 vote dilution plaintiffs must establish that the challenged practice is dilutive. In order for an electoral system to dilute a minority group's voting power, there must be an alternative system that would provide greater electoral opportunity to minority voters. "Put simply, in order to decide whether an electoral system has made it harder for minority voters to elect the candidates they prefer, a court must have an idea in mind of how hard it 'should' be for minority voters to elect their preferred candidates under an acceptable system." Gingles, 478 U. S., at 88 (O'Connor, J., concurring in judgment). As we have said, "[u]nless minority voters possess the potential to elect representatives in the absence of the challenged structure or practice, they cannot claim to have been injured by that structure or practice." Id., at 50, n. 17 (emphasis in original); see also id., at 99 (O'Connor, J., concurring in judgment) ("[T]he relative lack of minority electoral success under a challenged plan, when compared with the success that would be predicted under the measure of undiluted minority voting strength the court is employing, can constitute powerful evidence of vote dilution") (emphasis added).
Accordingly, to determine whether voters possess the potential to elect representatives of choice in the absence of the challenged structure, courts must choose an objectively reasonable alternative practice as a benchmark for the dilution comparison. On this, there is general agreement. See ante, at 880 (opinion of Kennedy, J.) ("[A] court must find a
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