280
Opinion of the Court
write—or help the secretary of state write—to tell those who had registered under that system that they were not registered to vote in state elections; that they should make certain future registrants understand that they would need to register separately to be eligible to vote in state, as well as federal, elections; and that they should develop a system for distinguishing between NVRA and other voters. Id., at 20a-23a.
On February 16, about two weeks after the Department of Justice sent its preclearance letter, the Department wrote another letter to Mississippi, which made clear that the Department did not believe its earlier preclearance had pre-cleared what it now saw as a new plan. The Department asked the State to submit what it called this new "dual registration and voter purge system" for preclearance. Id., at 24a. The Department added:
"In this regard, we note that while, on February 1, 1995, the Attorney General granted Section 5 preclearance to procedures instituted by the state to implement the NVRA, that submission did not seek preclearance for a dual registration and purge system and, indeed, we understand that the decision to institute such a system was not made until after February 1." Id., at 24a-25a.
Mississippi, perhaps believing that the February 1 preclearance sufficed, made no further preclearance submissions.
D
On April 20, 1995, four private citizens (appellants) brought this lawsuit before a three-judge District Court. They claimed that Mississippi and its officials had implemented changes in its registration system without preclearance in violation of § 5. The United States, which is an amicus curiae here, brought a similar lawsuit, and the two actions were consolidated.
The three-judge District Court granted Mississippi's motion for summary judgment. It considered the plaintiffs'
Page: Index Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007