Cite as: 538 U. S. 254 (2003)
Opinion of O'Connor, J.
Justice Stevens attempts to distinguish the prior versions of § 2a(c) because they contained slightly different language from the present version of § 2a(c). See ante, at 291. Even assuming, however, that the 1882 version of § 2a(c) is slightly different from the present version, the versions of § 2a(c) in effect in 1891, 1901, and 1911 are materially indistinguishable from the present version. Indeed, the 1911 statute—the one in effect at the time Congress enacted the present version of § 2a(c)—is almost word for word the same as the current statute. Compare Act of Aug. 8, 1911, ch. 5, § 4, 37 Stat. 14 ("until such State shall be redistricted in the manner provided by the laws thereof"), with 2 U. S. C. § 2a(c) ("[u]ntil a State is redistricted in the manner provided by the law therof"). See also Smiley v. Holm, 285 U. S. 355, 374 (1932) (noting that the 1911 version of § 2a(c) would apply "unless and until new districts are created").
Given this history of the two provisions coexisting in the same statute, I would not hold that § 2c impliedly repeals § 2a(c). The two statutes are "capable of co-existence" because each covers a different subject matter. Morton v. Mancari, supra, at 551. Section 2c was not intended to cover the whole subject of § 2a(c) and was not "clearly intended as a substitute" for § 2a(c). Posadas v. National City Bank, supra, at 503. Section 2a(c) (requiring at-large elections) applies unless or until the State redistricts, and § 2c (requiring single-member districts) applies once the State has completed the redistricting process.
This Court has in fact read the prior versions of §§ 2c and 2a(c) so that the two did not conflict. In Smiley v. Holm, supra, we recognized that under the 1911 version of these provisions, at-large elections were an appropriate remedy if the State was not properly redistricted in the first instance. See id., at 374 ("[U]nless and until new districts are created, all representatives allotted to the State must be elected by the State at large").
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