Lead Opinion
delivered the opinion of the Court.
Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Act or Voting Rights Act), 79 Stat. 437, as amended, 42 U. S. C. § 1973 et seq., des
I
The instant appeal marks the second occasion on which this Court has addressed issues arising in the course of litigation over the method for electing judges in Monterey County, and we assume familiarity with our previous decision in this case. See Lopez v. Monterey County,
A
Congress enacted the Voting Rights Act under its authority to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment’s proscription against voting discrimination. The Act contains generally applicable voting rights protections, but it also places special restrictions on voting activity within designated, or “covered,” jurisdictions. Jurisdictions — States or political subdivisions — are selected for coverage if they meet specified criteria suggesting the presence of voting discrimination in
The Act subjects covered jurisdictions to special restrictions on their voting laws. Section 4(a) suspends use of a “test or device” in any jurisdiction designated for coverage. § 1973b(a)(l). In addition, § 5 of the Act provides that covered jurisdictions must obtain federal approval for any measure that departs from the voting scheme in place in the jurisdiction on a specified date. The portion of § 5 applicable in this ease provides, specifically, that federal preelearanee is required “whenever a [covered] State or political subdivision . . . shall enact or seek to administer any voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure with respect to voting different from that in force or effect on November 1,1968.” § 1973c.
A covered jurisdiction has two avenues available to seek the federal preelearanee required under §5. The jurisdiction may submit the proposed voting change to the Attorney General. If the Attorney General affirmatively approves the change or fails to object to it within 60 days, the change is deemed precleared and the jurisdiction may put it into effect. Ibid. Alternatively, either in the first instance or following an objection from the Attorney General, a covered jurisdiction may seek preelearanee for a voting change by filing a declaratory judgment action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Ibid. The change is precleared if the court declares that the proposed
In 1971, Monterey County was designated a covered jurisdiction based on findings that, as of November 1, 1968, the County maintained California’s statewide literacy test as a prerequisite to voting and less than 50 percent of the County’s voting age population participated in the November 1968 Presidential election. 35 Fed. Reg. 12354 (1970); 36 Fed. Reg. 5809 (1971); see also 42 U.S.C. §1973b(b). Accordingly, the County must obtain federal preelearance for any departure from the voting scheme in place on November 1,1968.
In fact, over the last 30 years, there have been numerous changes in the structure of the County’s trial court system and the scheme for electing judges. On November 1, 1968, Monterey County had nine judicial districts: two municipal court and seven justice court districts. As we observed in our earlier opinion, see Lopez v. Monterey County, supra, at 12, municipal court districts encompassed larger populations than their justice court counterparts, and the former districts had two judges whereas the latter had one. Moreover, justice courts were not courts of record, and their judges frequently worked part time. Each of the nine districts in place in 1968 was wholly independent, and its judges were elected at large by voters in the district in which they served.
Since 1972, however, the County’s judicial system has undergone substantial change resulting in what is today a single, countywide municipal court served by 10 judges. Four County ordinances adopted between 1972 and 1976 reduced the number of justice court districts in the County
The next noteworthy change in the County’s judicial election scheme occurred in 1979, with the consolidation of the County’s three municipal court districts. On June 5, 1979, the County passed Ordinance No. 2524, which provided that the Monterey Peninsula Judicial District, North Monterey County Judicial District, and the Salinas Judicial District would be combined to form the Monterey County Municipal Court District. App. to Juris. Statement 75. The same year, the State enacted a law, apparently at the County’s request, requiring the same merger of the municipal court districts and mapping out some of the mechanics of the new, consolidated district. 1979 Cal. Stats., ch. 694; see also §4 (noting that “this act is in accordance with the request of a local governmental entity or entities which desired legislative authority to carry out the program specified in this act”). The state Act provides, in pertinent part, that “[t]here is in the County of Monterey, on and after the effective date of this section, a single municipal court district which embraces the former Salinas Judicial District, Monterey Peninsula Judicial District and North Monterey County Judicial District.” § 2. The 1979 changes thus left the County with one municipal court district and two justice court districts.
The final step toward a single, countywide district occurred in 1983. County Ordinance No. 2930, passed by Monterey County’s Board of Supervisors on August 2,1983,
The County, although covered by § 5 of the Act, failed to seek federal preelearanee for any of its six consolidation ordinances. Nor did the State preclear its 1979 law that, like the County ordinance adopted the same year, directed the consolidation of the three municipal court districts. The State did seek the Attorney General’s approval, however, for the 1983 state law authorizing additional judgeships upon the final merger of the justice courts into a single, countywide municipal court district. In the process, the State provided the- Department of Justice with a copy of the County’s 1983 consolidation ordinance. The Attorney General did not oppose the State’s 1983 submission, and we have thus observed that this “submission may well have served to preclear the 1983 county ordinance.” Lopez v. Monterey County,
B
Appellants, Hispanic voters who reside in Monterey County, filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on September 6, 1991, claiming that the County had failed to fulfill its § 5 obligation to preclear any of the consolidation ordinances passed between 1972 and 1983. A three-judge District Court concluded that the ordinances were voting changes requiring preclearance under §5 and that the ordinances were unenforceable until they were preeleared.
Accordingly, the County initiated proceedings before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in an effort to preclear the ordinances. Ultimately, however, the County agreed to dismiss the suit without prejudice and to stipulate that its “ Hoard of Supervisors is unable to establish that the [consolidation ordinances] adopted by the County between 1968 and 1983 did not have the effect of denying the right to vote to Latinos in Monterey County due to the retrogressive effect several of these ordinances had on Latino voting strength in Monterey County.’” Lopez v. Monterey County,
Back before the three-judge District Court in the Northern District of California, appellants and the County, working together, submitted alternatives to the districtwide voting scheme. Meanwhile, the State was allowed to intervene in the proceedings, and it opposed the proposed plans on the ground that they violated aspects of the California Constitution governing judicial elections. By late 1994, after unsuccessful attempts by the County to secure an amendment to the California Constitution, appellants and the County remained unable to formulate a judicial election
The Attorney General precleared the court’s interim plan in March 1995, and judges were selected in a 1995 special election to serve until January 1997. Following the election, however, this Court decided Miller v. Johnson,
This Court granted appellants’ emergency stay application and enjoined the proposed, eountywide election.
On remand, the State moved to dismiss appellants' complaint on this theory, among others, and the District Court agreed that preelearanee was unnecessary because the countywide scheme was now mandated by California law. No. C-91-20559-RMW (ND Cal., Dec. 19, 1997), App. to Juris. Statement 1, 4-9. Among the other grounds for dismissal raised in its motion, the State also alleged that appellants' claims are barred by laches, that it was constitutional error to designate the County as a covered jurisdiction under § 5, and that the consolidation ordinances did not alter a voting “standard, practice, or procedure” subject to pre-elearanee under §5. The District Court did not address these alternative bases to dismiss appellants' complaint, however, and we do not reach them here. The State also moved to vacate a September 25, 1996, order extending the terms of the judges elected under the 1995 interim plan. The District Court granted this request along with the State’s motion to dismiss.
In granting the motion to dismiss, the District Court reasoned that § 5, by its own terms, creates a preclearance obligation only for covered jurisdictions. Noncovered entities, like the State, bear no responsibility to preclear voting changes that they “enact or seek to administer.” See id., at 5. “[T]he purpose of § 5 appears to be to target only those enactments by jurisdictions suspected of abridging the right to vote and not those put in force by a non-eovered, superior jurisdiction.” Ibid.
Here, the District Court concluded, the 1979 state law had consolidated the three existing municipal courts and mandated that there be one municipal court district in the
We noted probable jurisdiction over the appeal from the order dismissing appellants’ complaint,
II
A
Appellants and the County together contend that the County must obtain preclearanee for changes leading to the eountywide voting scheme before giving effect to this
The face of the Act itself provides the most compelling support for appellants’ claim. The phrase “seek to administer” provides no indication that Congress intended to limit § 5’s preelearance obligations to the discretionary actions of covered jurisdictions. To the contrary, “administer” is consistently defined in purely nondiseretionary terms. See, e. g., Webster’s Third New International Dictionary 27 (1961) (“to manage the affairs of,” “to direct or superintend the execution, use, or conduct of”); Random House Dictionary of the English Language 26 (2d ed. 1987) (“to manage (affairs, a government, etc.); have executive charge of”); Black’s Law Dictionary 44 (6th ed. 1990) (“To manage or conduct”). The State’s view that “administer” is intended to capture a cov
Nor are we persuaded that Congress’ use of the word “seek” is intended to require an act of discretion by the covered jurisdiction in order to trigger the preclearance requirement. The word “seek” in this context is more readily understood as creating a temporal distinction. The Government has indicated that a covered jurisdiction need not seek preclearanee before enacting legislation that would effect a voting change. See 28 CFR § 51.22(a) (1997) (listing “[a]ny proposal for a change affecting voting submitted prior to final enactment” among “premature submissions” that Attorney General will not consider); see also Tr. of Oral Arg. 20. Preclearanee is required before actually administering a change, however, and use of the word “seek” in §5 makes this distinction clear.
We note, too, that this Court has elsewhere assumed that legislation from a partially covered State must be precleared to the extent that it affects covered counties. In United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburgh, Inc. v. Carey,
Nor have we been alone in this assumption. The Department of Justice claims to have received more than 1,300 submissions seeking to preclear state laws from the seven States that are currently partially covered: California, Florida, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, and South Dakota. Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae in Support of Juris. Statement 13, n. 3; see also 28 CFR pt. 51, App. (1997) (identifying partially covered States); see generally Perkins v. Matthews,
Finally, we find it especially relevant that the Attorney General also reads §5 as we do. According to the Government: “The Attorney General has consistently construed Section 5 to require preelearance when a covered political subdivision fseek[s] to administer’ an enactment of a partially covered State.” Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 19; see also S. Eep. No. 97-417, pp. 11-12 (1982) (describing Attorney General’s objections to laws enacted by North Carolina and South Dakota, both partially covered States). Subject to certain limitations not implicated here, see, e. g., Presley v. Etowah County Comm’n,
In light of the section’s plain language and the Attorney General’s interpretation to the same effect, we conclude that § 5’s preelearanee requirement applies to a covered county’s nondiseretionary efforts to implement a voting change required by state law, notwithstanding the fact that the State is not itself a covered jurisdiction. Accordingly, we need not reach appellants’ alternative claim that the countywide district is in fact the product of the County’s discretion.
B
The State also urges that requiring preclearance here would tread on rights constitutionally reserved to the States. The State contends, specifically, that § 5 could not withstand constitutional scrutiny if it were interpreted to apply to voting measures enacted by States that have not been designated as historical wrongdoers in the voting rights sphere. In the State’s view, because California has not been designated as a covered jurisdiction, its laws are not subject to §5 preelearanee.
We have recognized that the Act, which authorizes federal intrusion into sensitive areas of state and local policy-making, imposes substantial “federalism costs.” Miller v. Johnson,
Moreover, we have specifically upheld the constitutionality of § 5 of the Act against a challenge that this provision usurps powers reserved to the States. See South Carolina v. Katzenbach,
This is, moreover, precisely what the text of § 5 requires. The United States District Court for the District of Columbia may preclear a proposed voting change only if the court concludes that the change "does not have the purpose and will not have the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote” on the basis of an impermissible classification. 42 U. S. C. § 1973c (emphasis added). The Attorney General employs the same standard in deciding whether to object to a proposed voting change. See 28 CFR § 51.52(a) (1997).
Recognizing that Congress has the constitutional authority to designate covered jurisdictions and to guard against changes that give rise to a discriminatory effect in those jurisdictions, we find no merit in the claim that Congress lacks Fifteenth Amendment authority to require federal approval before the implementation of a state law that may
The State seeks to bolster its constitutional argument by noting that partially covered States, like California, have no statutory ability to seek an exemption from the Act’s coverage. Section 4(a) permits a covered jurisdiction to seek declaratory relief exempting the jurisdiction from further coverage if it meets certain criteria. 42 U. S. C. § 1973b(a). Even if California were unable to use this “bailout” provision on behalf of its covered counties, but see United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburgh, Inc. v. Carey,
In short, the Voting Rights Act, by its nature, intrudes on state sovereignty. The Fifteenth Amendment permits this
The State also urges that certain of our prior decisions require a covered jurisdiction to exercise some discretion or poliey choice in order to trigger §5’s preclearanee requirements. In particular, the State relies on Young v. Fordice,
The State also seeks to rely on City of Monroe, in which we held that preclearance of a voting change included in a statewide law empowered a municipality to implement that
Finally, we note that this Court has created an exception to the preelearanee requirement in certain eases involving federally court-ordered voting changes. As a general rule, voting changes crafted wholly by a federal district court in the first instance do not require preclearance. See Connor v. Johnson,
“Needless to say I completely agree with the holding of the majority that a reapportionment plan formulated and ordered by a federal district court need*287 not be approved by the United States Attorney General or the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Under our constitutional system it would be strange indeed to construe § 5... to require that actions of a federal court be stayed and reviewed by the Attorney General or the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.” Id., at 695.
We have since recognized limitations on the Connor exception. In McDaniel v. Sanchez,
We hold that the County is obligated to seek preclearanee under §5 before giving effect to voting changes required by state law. Accordingly, the judgment of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California is reversed, and the ease is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
Notes
County Ordinance No. 1917, adopted on October 3, 1972, consolidated two justice court districts. App. to Juris. Statement 56-57. On November 13,1973, County Ordinance No. 1999 consolidated another two justice court districts. Id., at 58-59. County Ordinance No. 2139, adopted on January 13, 1976, merged three justice court districts with other judicial districts. Id., at 62-64. Finally, County Ordinance No. 2212, adopted on September 7,1976, added a new justice court district. Id., at 68-70.
Concurrence Opinion
concurring in the judgment.
I would not decide in this case whether “§ 5’s preclearance requirement applies to a covered county’s nondiscretionary efforts to implement a voting change required by state law, notwithstanding the fact that the State is not itself a covered jurisdiction.” Ante, at 282. I think it quite possible, particularly in light of the constitutional concerns identified by Justice Thomas, that the phrase “seek to administer” in the statute requires that the covered jurisdiction exercise discretion or pursue its own policy aims before the obligation to preclear a voting change arises. See 14 Oxford English Dictionary 877 (2d ed. 1989) (defining “seek,” inter alia, as “[t]o make it one’s aim, to try or attempt to (do something)”). That interpretation draws some support from our decisions in Connor v. Johnson,
I concur in the majority’s disposition of this case, however, because it is clear that the state enactments requiring the voting changes at issue in fact embodied the policy preferences and determinations of the county itself. See McDaniel v. Sanchez,
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
The majority today interprets the phrase “seek to administer” as used in §5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 42 U. S. C. § 1973c, to require that a covered political subdivision seek federal approval of any law enacted by a noncovered State that effects a change with respect to voting in the covered political subdivision, so long as the covered political subdivision somehow implements the State’s law. I do not think the majority’s is the best reading of the statute; moreover, I think the majority’s interpretation is constitutionally doubtful. I would read § 5 to require preclearance only of those voting changes that are the direct product of a covered jurisdiction’s policy choices. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.
I
As the majority notes, ante, at 269, Monterey County (County) is a covered jurisdiction under the Voting Rights Act, but the State of California is not. Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act provides that whenever a covered “State or political subdivision . . . shall enact or seek to administer any voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure with respect to voting” that differs from those in effect on the date that the State or subdivision became a covered jurisdiction, it must obtain
The majority concludes that the County must preelear the State’s laws because it “seek[s] to administer” the state dis-tricting scheme. Ante, at 278.
The majority’s interpretation appears to render superfluous the “enact” prong of the statute. A person could not be “denied the right to vote for failure to comply with” a covered jurisdiction’s enactment affecting voting, as §5 prohibits absent federal preelearanee, unless the jurisdiction was administering its enacted laws. And the majority’s explanation that “seek” as it modifies “to administer” is a “temporal distinction,” ante, at 279, is unsatisfactory because it ignores that “shall” as it modifies “enact” is also a temporal limitation. Both prongs of the statute, not surprisingly, are written in terms of simple futurity, given §5’s prophylactic nature.
My interpretation of the statutory phrase also more accurately reflects the section’s purpose. As we have previously recognized, §5 was enacted as
“ ‘a response to a common practice in some jurisdictions of staying one step ahead of the federal courts by passing new discriminatory voting laws as soon as the old ones had been struck down.... Congress therefore decided . . . “to shift the advantage of time and inertia from the perpetrators of the evil to its victi[m3,” Beer v. United States,425 U. S. 130 , 140 (1976) (quoting H. R. Rep. No. 94-196, pp. 57-58 (1970)).
See also Reno v. Bossier Parish School Bd.,
The Government, as amicus curiae supporting appellants, suggests that the State enacted its district consolidation legislation at the County’s suggestion, implying that the state judicial district consolidation statutes are the product of the County’s policy choices. Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 22-25. I recognize that in McDaniel v. Sanchez,
II
Moreover, my reading of § 5 avoids the majority’s constitutionally doubtM interpretation. “[Wjhere a statute is susceptible of two constructions, by one of which grave and doubtful constitutional questions arise and by the other of which such questions are avoided, our duty is to adopt the latter.” United States ex rel. Attorney General v. Delaware & Hudson Co.,
Section 5 is a unique requirement that exacts significant federalism costs, as we have recognized on more than one occasion. See Bossier Parish, supra, at 480; Miller v. Johnson, supra, at 926; see also City of Rome v. United States,
Despite these serious and undeniable costs, we have twice upheld the preclearanee requirement as a constitutional exercise of Congress’ Fifteenth Amendment enforcement power,
There can be no remedy without a wrong. Essential to our holdings in Katzenbach and City of Rome was our conclusion that Congress was remedying the effects of prior intentional racial discrimination. In both cases, we required Congress to have some evidence that the jurisdiction bur
The majority “findfs] no merit in the claim that Congress lacks Fifteenth Amendment authority to require federal approval before the implementation of a state law that may have [a discriminatory] effect in a covered county.” Ante, at 283-284. In my view, it overlooks our warning in City of Boerne that “[t)he appropriateness of remedial measures must be considered in light of the evil presented.” 521U. S., at 530; see also City of Rome, supra, at 211-219 (Rehnquist, J., dissenting). There has been no legislative finding
Moreover, it is plain that the majority’s reading of §5 raises to new levels the federalism costs that the statute imposes. If preclearance of a State’s voting law is denied when sought by a covered political subdivision, the State will be unable to develop a consistent statewide voting policy; its laws will be enforceable in noncovered subdivisions, but not in the covered subdivision. And under the majority’s reading of §5, noncovered States are forced to rely upon their covered political subdivisions to defend their interests before the Federal Government. The subdivision may not know the State’s interest, or may simply disagree with the State and therefore choose not to defend vigorously the State’s policy choices before the Federal Government. Indeed, in this case, the County represented that it “concurs with the essential arguments of the Appellants that state law affecting voting, insofar as such law may affect elections within a covered jurisdiction, must be preeleared . . . .” Brief for Appellee Monterey County 1.
The majority attempts to bolster its argument by suggesting that requiring the County to submit the State’s laws for preclearance is no more unusual than the Act’s suspension of literacy tests in covered jurisdictions. It points out that
* * *
I would interpret §5 only to require preclearance of a covered jurisdiction’s changes affecting voting qualifications, prerequisites, standards, practices, or procedures, whether made by formal enactment or otherwise. In my view, this
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,
Even were agree ute, I am not convinced that the County implements the State’s district-ing laws simply by administering elections, as the majority apparently believes.
I recognize that we have interpreted §5 to reach entities that did not obviously fall within the definition of covered “State or political subdivision” in prior cases. For example, in United States v. Sheffield Bd. of Comm’rs,
For somewhat similar reasons, even if I agreed with the majority’s interpretation of the statute, I would still affirm the District Court’s dismissal of appellants’ first amended complaint, which did not ask that the County be ordered to preclear the State’s laws. The only coverage question the complaint raised was whether the County’s antecedent consolidation ordinances needed to be preeleared. App. to Juris. Statement 83-104.
The Fifteenth Amendment provides:
“Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of
race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
“Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”
Although City of Boerne involved the Fourteenth Amendment enforcement power, we have always treated the nature of the enforcement powers conferred by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments as coextensive. See, e. g., City of Boerne, 521 U. S., at 518-528; James v. Bowman,