284
Opinion of the Court
in effect in 1994. And the State has not precleared those differences.
This Court has made clear that minor, as well as major, changes require preclearance. Allen v. State Bd. of Elections, 393 U. S. 544, 566-569 (1969) (discussing minor changes, including a change from paper ballots to voting machines); NAACP v. Hampton County Election Comm'n, 470 U. S. 166, 175-177 (1985) (election date relative to filing deadline); Perkins, supra, at 387 (location of polling places). See also 28 CFR § 51.12 (1996) (requiring preclearance of "[a]ny change affecting voting, even though it appears to be minor or indirect . . ."). This is true even where, as here, the changes are made in an effort to comply with federal law, so long as those changes reflect policy choices made by state or local officials. Allen, supra, at 565, n. 29 (requiring State to preclear changes made in an effort to comply with § 2 of the VRA, 42 U. S. C. § 1973); McDaniel v. Sanchez, 452 U. S. 130, 153 (1981) (requiring preclearance of voting changes submitted to a federal court because the VRA "requires that whenever a covered jurisdiction submits a proposal reflecting the policy choices of the elected representatives of the people— no matter what constraints have limited the choices available to them—the preclearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act is applicable"); Lopez v. Monterey County, 519 U. S. 9, 22 (1996) (quoting McDaniel and emphasizing the need to preclear changes reflecting policy choices); Hampton County Election Comm'n, supra, at 179-180 (requiring preclearance of change in election date although change was made in an effort to comply with § 5). Moreover, the NVRA does not forbid application of the VRA's requirements. To the contrary, it says "[n]othing in this subchapter authorizes or requires conduct that is prohibited by the" VRA. 42 U. S. C. § 1973gg-9(d)(2). And it adds that "neither the rights and remedies established by this section nor any other provision of this subchapter shall supersede, restrict, or limit the application of the" VRA. § 1973gg-9(d)(1).
Page: Index Previous 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007