Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/12pdf/12-96_6k47.pdf
Page Number: 21

Cite as:  570 U. S. ____ (2013) 

17 

Opinion of the Court 

justifying that requirement have dramatically improved.

We  have  also  previously  highlighted  the  concern  that
“the  preclearance  requirements  in  one  State  [might] 
be  unconstitutional  in  another.”  Northwest  Austin,  557 
U. S.,  at  203;  see  Georgia  v.  Ashcroft,  539  U. S.,  at  491 
(KENNEDY,  J.,  concurring)  (“considerations  of  race  that
would  doom  a  redistricting  plan  under  the  Fourteenth
Amendment  or  §2  [of  the  Voting  Rights  Act]  seem  to  be
what  save  it  under  §5”).    Nothing  has  happened  since  to
alleviate this troubling concern about the current applica-
tion of §5.

Respondents  do  not  deny  that  there  have  been  im-
provements  on  the  ground,  but  argue  that  much  of  this
can  be  attributed  to  the  deterrent  effect  of  §5,  which  dis-
suades covered jurisdictions from engaging in discrimina-
tion  that  they  would  resume  should  §5  be  struck  down.
Under  this  theory,  however,  §5  would  be  effectively  im-
mune  from  scrutiny;  no  matter  how  “clean”  the  record
of  covered  jurisdictions,  the  argument  could  always  be
made  that  it  was  deterrence  that  accounted  for  the  good
behavior. 

The  provisions  of  §5  apply  only  to  those  jurisdictions 
singled out by §4.  We now consider whether that coverage 
formula is constitutional in light of current conditions. 

III
 
A 

When  upholding  the  constitutionality  of  the  coverage
formula in 1966, we concluded that it was “rational in both 
practice and theory.”  Katzenbach, 383 U. S., at 330.  The 
formula  looked  to  cause  (discriminatory  tests)  and  ef- 
fect  (low  voter  registration  and  turnout),  and  tailored  the 
remedy  (preclearance)  to  those  jurisdictions  exhibiting
both. 

By  2009,  however,  we  concluded  that  the  “coverage
formula raise[d] serious constitutional questions.”  North-