220
Opinion of Stevens, J.
VI
Justice Kennedy and Justice Thomas reject our construction of § 5 for a number of reasons, none of which is convincing. They rely primarily on the argument that, under a literal reading of the statutory text, a political party is not a "State or political subdivision" within the meaning of § 5 because it is not a unit of government. See post, at 253-276 (Thomas, J., dissenting); post, at 248-250 (Kennedy, J., dissenting). The radicalism of this position should not be underestimated. It entirely rejects the distinction between primary elections and conventions that is the centerpiece of the Party's argument. On this view, even if a political party flagrantly discriminated in the selection of candidates whose names would appear on the primary election ballot or in the registration of voters in a primary election, it would not fall within the coverage of § 5. Unsurprisingly, neither the District Court nor the Party advanced this extreme argument, for it is plainly at war with the intent of Congress and with our settled interpretation of the Act.32
Almost two decades ago we held in United States v. Sheffield Bd. of Comm'rs that "§ 5, like the constitutional provisions it is designed to implement, applies to all entities having power over any aspect of the electoral process within designated jurisdictions." 435 U. S., at 118 (emphasis added). We understood the phrase "State or political subdivision" to have a "territorial reach" that embraced "actions that are not formally those of the State." Id., at 127. The Court even invoked Terry to make its point. 435 U. S., at 127. Justice Thomas' efforts to confine Sheffield and our subsequent decision in Dougherty do not make sense of those cases. Dougherty held that a county school board qualifies
32 The Party makes passing reference to the idea in its brief, but the surrounding argument makes clear that it only challenges application of the regulation to its nominating activities. See Brief for Appellees 30-40. At oral argument, moreover, the Party confirmed that it believed § 5 could encompass the activities of political parties. See Tr. of Oral Arg. 28-30.
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