290
Thomas, J., dissenting
federal approval of the new voting requirement.1 Although the County elected its municipal judges from separate districts at the time it became subject to the Act's preclearance requirement, California law now requires that the County elect its judges from a single judicial district. This appeal, then, squarely puts before us for the first time the question whether § 5 requires federal preclearance of a noncovered State's laws effecting a change with respect to voting in one of its covered political subdivisions.
The majority concludes that the County must preclear the State's laws because it "seek[s] to administer" the state districting scheme. Ante, at 278.2 The Voting Rights Act does not define the phrase "seek to administer," and the majority's construction of the phrase is not plainly erroneous. "[A]dminister" can plausibly be read, in isolation, to encompass "nondiscretionary acts by covered jurisdictions endeavoring to comply with the superior law of the State." Ante, at 279. But I do not think that the majority's reading of the statute is the best one. "[S]eek to administer" must be read in light of its surrounding terms. Section 5 requires that a covered political subdivision obtain federal preclearance whenever it "shall enact or seek to administer" voting changes. The term "administer" is best understood when read in contrast to "enact." In my view, Congress intended "administer" to reach those changes in voting qualifications, prerequisites, standards, practices, or procedures that a covered jurisdiction imposes in a way other than formal enactment. In other words, the statute is designed to ensure that
1 For convenience, I use the shorthand "voting change" or "change with respect to voting" throughout. But I adhere to my view that not all changes affecting voting are covered by §§ 2 and 5 of the Voting Rights Act, as those sections are properly understood. See Holder v. Hall, 512 U. S. 874, 891, 893-903 (1994) (opinion concurring in judgment).
2 Even were I to agree with the majority's interpretation of the statute, I am not convinced that the County implements the State's districting laws simply by administering elections, as the majority apparently believes.
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