Cite as: 525 U. S. 266 (1999)
Opinion of the Court
County. This Act, in the court's view, did not require pre-clearance because it was the product of the State, a non-covered jurisdiction. The only additional change—effected by the County's 1983 ordinance merging the remaining justice court districts with the municipal court district—had been precleared. Moreover, the court reasoned, even if the 1983 ordinance had not received preclearance, an amendment to the California Constitution effective January 1, 1995, eliminated justice courts, and thus the remaining two justice court districts would have merged with the municipal court district as a matter of course. See Cal. Const., Art. VI, § 5(b). The justice court districts would have been unable to become municipal court districts themselves, the District Court reasoned, in light of a state constitutional provision requiring a minimum of 40,000 residents in a municipal court district. App. to Juris. Statement 8; see Cal. Const., Art. VI, § 5(a). In reaching its conclusion, the court expressly rejected appellants' claim that even voting changes effected by California law require preclearance before the County may "seek to administer" them. Relying on our decision in Young v. Fordice, 520 U. S. 273 (1997), the District Court concluded that a jurisdiction " 'seek[s] to administer' " a voting change, as that language is used in § 5, only where the jurisdiction exercises some element of discretion or policy choice in the matter. App. to Juris. Statement 8-9. Here, the court found, the County had no choice but to implement the countywide voting scheme.
We noted probable jurisdiction over the appeal from the order dismissing appellants' complaint, 523 U. S. 1093 (1998), and we reverse.
II
A
Appellants and the County together contend that the County must obtain preclearance for changes leading to the countywide voting scheme before giving effect to this
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