Cite as: 517 U. S. 186 (1996)
Thomas, J., dissenting
son shall be denied the right to vote for failure to comply with [a new state enactment covered by, but not approved under, § 5].' " Id., at 555. It was "[a]nalysis of this language" that "indicate[d] that appellants may seek a declaratory judgment that a new state enactment is governed by §5." Ibid. A private cause of action was thought necessary to effectuate "[t]he guarantee of § 5 that no person shall be denied the right to vote for failure to comply with an unapproved new enactment subject to § 5." Id., at 557.20
See also Cannon v. University of Chicago, 441 U. S. 677, 690 (1979) ("[I]t was statutory language describing the special class to be benefited by § 5 . . . that persuaded the Court that private parties within that class were implicitly authorized to seek a declaratory judgment against a covered State").
Unlike § 5, § 10 creates no statutory privilege in any particular class of persons to be free of poll taxes. The only possible "guarantee" created by § 10 is that the Attorney General will challenge the enforcement of poll taxes on behalf of those voters who reside in poll tax jurisdictions. What § 10 does not do, however, is actually prohibit a State or political subdivision from administering poll taxes. Nor does it declare that no person shall be required to pay a poll tax. Rather, § 10 merely provides, as a "declaration of policy" prefacing the authorization for civil suits, that "the constitutional right of citizens to vote is denied or abridged in some areas by the requirement of the payment of a poll tax as a precondition to voting." 42 U. S. C. § 1973h(a). It further provides that when a jurisdiction administers a poll tax, the Attorney General may prevent its enforcement by bringing suit in accordance with certain procedural requirements, including a three-judge district court and direct appeal to this Court. See § 1973h(c). Section 10 creates no ban on the imposition of poll taxes, whereas § 5, Allen said,
20 This language makes clear that the "guarantee" described in Allen was not, as Justice Stevens asserts, "simply its holding that individuals can sue under § 5." Ante, at 233, n. 43.
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