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4 

SHELBY COUNTY v. HOLDER 

Opinion of the Court 

out”  of  coverage  if  it  had  not  used  a  test  or  device  in  the
preceding  five  years  “for  the  purpose  or  with  the  effect  of 
denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or
color.”  §4(a),  id.,  at  438.    In  1965,  the  covered  States 
included Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South 
Carolina,  and  Virginia.  The  additional  covered  subdivi-
sions  included  39  counties  in  North  Carolina  and  one  in 
Arizona.  See 28 CFR pt. 51, App. (2012). 

In those jurisdictions, §4 of the Act banned all such tests
or devices.  §4(a), 79 Stat. 438.  Section 5 provided that no
change in voting procedures could take effect until it was
approved  by  federal  authorities  in  Washington,  D. C.—
either the Attorney General or a court of three judges.  Id., 
at  439.  A  jurisdiction  could  obtain  such  “preclearance” 
only by proving that the change had neither “the purpose 
[nor] the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on
account of race or color.”  Ibid. 

Sections  4  and  5  were  intended  to  be  temporary;  they 
were  set  to  expire  after  five  years.    See  §4(a),  id.,  at  438; 
Northwest  Austin,  supra,  at  199.   In  South  Carolina  v. 
Katzenbach, we upheld the 1965 Act against constitutional
challenge, explaining that it was justified to address “vot-
ing discrimination where it persists on a pervasive scale.”
383 U. S., at 308. 

In 1970, Congress reauthorized the Act for another five
years, and extended the coverage formula in §4(b) to juris-
dictions  that  had  a  voting  test  and  less  than  50  percent 
voter registration or turnout as of 1968.  Voting Rights Act
Amendments of 1970, §§3–4, 84 Stat. 315.  That swept in
several  counties  in  California,  New  Hampshire,  and  New 
York.  See  28  CFR  pt.  51,  App.  Congress  also  extended 
the  ban  in  §4(a)  on  tests  and  devices  nationwide.    §6,  84
Stat. 315. 

In  1975,  Congress  reauthorized  the  Act  for  seven  more
years, and  extended its coverage  to jurisdictions that had 
a voting test and less than 50 percent voter registration or