298
Opinion of O'Connor, J.
In short, because §§ 2a(c)(5) and 2c are capable of coexistence, and because the history shows that § 2c does not cover the whole subject of § 2a(c), I agree with the plurality that § 2c does not impliedly repeal § 2a(c), and therefore that § 2a(c) "continues to apply." Ante, at 273.
II
A
Although the plurality acknowledges that § 2a(c) remains in full force, it inexplicably adopts a reading of § 2a(c) that has no textual basis. Under § 2a(c)(5), the State must conduct at-large elections "[u]ntil a State is redistricted in the manner provided by the law thereof." Instead of simply reading the plain text of the statute, however, the plurality invents its own version of the text of § 2a(c). The plurality holds that "[u]ntil a State is redistricted . . ." means "[u]ntil . . . the election is so imminent that no entity competent to complete redistricting pursuant to . . . the mandate of § 2c [ ] is able to do so without disrupting the election process." Ante, at 274, 275. But such a reading is not faithful to the text of the statute. Like Justice Stevens, I believe that the Court's interpretation of § 2a(c) is nothing more than "tortured judicial legislation." Ante, at 292. See also Scalia, The Rule of Law as a Law of Rules, 56 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1175, 1185 (1989) ("[W]hen one does not have a solid textual anchor or an established social norm from which to derive the general rule, its pronouncement appears uncomfortably like legislation").
Dictionary definitions confirm what the plain text says: "Until a State is redistricted in the manner provided by the law thereof" means "[u]ntil a State is redistricted in the manner provided by the law thereof." The meaning of the word "until" is not difficult to understand, nor is it some specialized term of art. See Webster's New International Dictionary 2794 (2d ed. 1957) (defining "until" to mean "[d]uring the whole time before"); Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 1297
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