282
Thomas, J., dissenting
The incongruity appears to be a result of Congress' 1982 amendment of § 2 to expand its reach to pre-election political processes, see Pub. L. 97-205, § 3, 96 Stat. 134, without making any concomitant amendments to either § 5 or § 14. As long as § 5 contains the term "voting," and § 14 in turn defines that word, I think we must adhere to the specific definition provided in § 14. We cannot decline to apply that definition according to its terms simply because we think it would be preferable to harmonize §§ 2 and 5. If the 1982 amendment produced an undesirable inconsistency between §§ 2 and 5, Congress is free to harmonize them.19
C
Were I otherwise willing to disregard the plain meaning of §§ 5 and 14, there is another factor counseling strongly against the Court's interpretation of the Act. Holding that the Party's convention fee must be precleared by the Government poses serious constitutional problems. Our stand-19 Legislative history is insufficient to bridge this gap in coverage that is apparent on the face of the statutes, as Justice Stevens would have it. See ante, at 210, n. 25. In any case, the legislative history cited by Justice Stevens is wholly nonresponsive to the issue of which types of entities must submit their rules for preclearance under § 5. That is, the legislative history discusses certain kinds of changes that must be pre-cleared, without suggesting that the entities that must comply with the preclearance requirement are anything other than States and political subdivisions. The part of the Senate Report cited by Justice Stevens addresses the need to preclear statewide redistricting plans. Reapportionment plans, of course, are usually enacted by state or local legislative bodies. See, e. g., Beer v. United States, 425 U. S. 130 (1976) (reapportionment plan adopted by city council). The passage in the House Report states that a voting practice that is outside the scope of the preclearance provision (either because it was in existence before 1965 or is implemented in a noncovered jurisdiction) may nonetheless be challenged in a lawsuit under § 2; hence the distinction between preclearance and litigation. The Report thus supports precisely the opposite proposition for which Justice Stevens cites it: It expressly states that not every action that can be brought under § 2 falls within the scope of § 5.
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