992
O'Connor, J., concurring
exercises of Congress' power. See U. S. Const., Art. VI, cl. 2. Statutes are presumed constitutional, see, e. g., Fairbank v. United States, 181 U. S. 283, 285 (1901), and that presumption appears strong here in light of the weight of authority affirming the results test's constitutionality. In addition, fundamental concerns of federalism mandate that States be given some leeway so that they are not "trapped between the competing hazards of liability." Wygant v. Jackson Bd. of Ed., 476 U. S. 267, 291 (1986) (O'Connor, J., concurring). We should allow States to assume the constitutionality of § 2 of the VRA, including the 1982 amendments.
This conclusion is bolstered by concerns of respect for the authority of Congress under the Reconstruction Amendments. See City of Rome v. United States, 446 U. S. 156, 179 (1980). The results test of § 2 is an important part of the apparatus chosen by Congress to effectuate this Nation's commitment "to confront its conscience and fulfill the guarantee of the Constitution" with respect to equality in voting. S. Rep. No. 97-417, p. 4 (1982). Congress considered the test "necessary and appropriate to ensure full protection of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments rights." Id., at 27. It believed that without the results test, nothing could be done about "overwhelming evidence of unequal access to the electoral system," id., at 26, or about "voting practices and procedures [that] perpetuate the effects of past purposeful discrimination," id., at 40. And it founded those beliefs on the sad reality that "there still are some communities in our Nation where racial politics do dominate the electoral process." Id., at 33. Respect for those legislative conclusions mandates that the § 2 results test be accepted and applied unless and until current lower court precedent is reversed and it is held unconstitutional.
In my view, therefore, the States have a compelling interest in complying with the results test as this Court has interpreted it.
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