1304
Opinion in Chambers
where applicable.' " Id., at 372-373, 562 S. E. 2d, at 390. The court thought this interpretation of the letter consistent with DOJ administrative guidance that provides " 'criteria which require the jurisdiction to . . . follow county, city, or precinct boundaries . . . may need to give way to some degree to avoid retrogression.' " Id., at 373, 562 S. E. 2d, at 391 (quoting 66 Fed. Reg. 5413 (2001)) (emphasis added).
A "single Justice will grant a stay only in extraordinary circumstances." Whalen v. Roe, 423 U. S. 1313, 1316 (Mar-shall, J., in chambers). Applicants do not satisfy the threshold requirement for the issuance of a stay. There is not a reasonable probability that four Members of this Court will vote to grant certiorari to resolve what is largely a dispute about the meaning of a single DOJ letter from 1981. See Lucas v. Townsend, 486 U. S. 1301, 1304 (1988) (Kennedy, J., in chambers). This issue, which has few if any ramifications beyond the instant case, does not satisfy any of the criteria for the exercise of this Court's discretionary jurisdiction. See this Court's Rule 10.
Applicants cite two cases in which the Court issued stays enjoining a covered jurisdiction from conducting imminent elections "under an unprecleared voting plan." Lopez v. Monterey County, 519 U. S. 9, 19, 21 (1996); Clark v. Roemer, 500 U. S. 646, 654-655 (1991). This case does not present the same situation. The Supreme Court of North Carolina ordered that the new plan would have to be precleared before elections could be held in the 40 covered counties. On remand, the trial court has already made clear its understanding of this requirement, issuing an order stating that "[n]o plan submitted by the General Assembly and approved by this Court, or in the absence of such a plan, no plan adopted by the Court, shall be administered in the 2002 elections until such time as it is precleared pursuant to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act." App. 13 to Response in Opposition 3. As there is no plan in North Carolina to hold elec-
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