Cite as: 512 U. S. 874 (1994)
Thomas, J., concurring in judgment
turnout in 1964 to define certain "covered" jurisdictions in which the use of literacy tests was immediately suspended. Pub. L. 89-110, § 4, 79 Stat. 438. Section 6 of the Act reflected the same concern for registration as it provided that federal examiners could be dispatched to covered jurisdictions whenever the Attorney General deemed it necessary to supervise the registration of black voters. 42 U. S. C. § 1973d. And to prevent evasion of the requirements of § 4, § 5 required that covered jurisdictions obtain "preclearance" from the Department of Justice before altering any "voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure with respect to voting." § 1973c.
The Act was immediately and notably successful in removing barriers to registration and ensuring access to the ballot. For example, in Mississippi, black registration levels skyrocketed from 6.7% to 59.8% in a mere two years; in Alabama the increase was from 19.3% to 51.6% in the same time period. See Thernstrom 18. By the end of 1967, black voter registration had reached at least 50% in every covered State. See B. Grofman, L. Handley, & R. Niemi, Minority Representation and the Quest for Voting Equality 22 (1992).
The Court's decision in Allen v. State Bd. of Elections, 393 U. S. 544 (1969), however, marked a fundamental shift in the focal point of the Act. In an opinion dealing with four companion cases, the Allen Court determined that the Act should be given "the broadest possible scope." Id., at 567. Thus, in Fairley v. Patterson, the Court decided that a covered jurisdiction's switch from a districting system to an at-large system for election of county supervisors was a "standard, practice, or procedure with respect to voting," subject to preclearance under § 5. Id., at 569. Stating that the Act "was aimed at the subtle, as well as the obvious, state regulations which have the effect of denying citizens their right to vote because of their race," id., at 565, the Court reasoned that § 5's preclearance provisions should apply, not only to changes in electoral laws that pertain to
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