Page:United States Reports 502 OCT. TERM 1991.pdf/681

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Cite as: 502 U. S. 491 (1992)

523

Stevens, J., dissenting

At the very least, I would hold that the reallocation of decisionmaking authority of an elective office that is taken (1) after the victory of a black candidate, and (2) after the entry of a consent decree designed to give black voters an opportunity to have representation on an elective body, is covered by § 5. Similar considerations supported the Court’s decision in Dougherty County Bd. of Ed. v. White, 439 U. S. 32 (1978). Dougherty involved a rule requiring an employee of the school system to take a leave of absence while running for, or holding, a public office. The Court recognized that the rule in question operated in effect as a filing fee, hitting hardest those who were least able to afford it, and that it implicated the political process to the same extent as had changes in the location of polling places, Perkins v. Matthews, 400 U. S. 379 (1971), and alterations in the procedures for casting a write-in vote, Allen v. State Bd. of Elections, 393 U. S. 544 (1969). The Dougherty Court also observed that the circumstances surrounding the rule’s adoption were “sufficiently suggestive of the potential for discrimination to demonstrate the need for preclearance.” 439 U. S., at 42. The rule had been adopted by an area with a long history of racial discrimination in voting, after the first black to seek public office announced his candidacy. Ibid. In the Etowah County case, as in Dougherty, the circumstances surrounding the adoption of the resolutions are similarly suggestive of the potential for discrimination and should require § 5 preclearance. the entire commission. Id., at 6a–7a. However, the Common Fund Resolution contained a grandfather clause that permitted each holdover commissioner to maintain control over unspent funds for the 1986–1987 fiscal years, and a provision that required all 1987–1988 road maintenance to be done out of the “ ‘four present road shops.’ ” Id., at 29a. Thus, the Common Fund Resolution, when combined with the Road Supervision Resolution, which gave the four holdover commissioners exclusive control over the road shops, meant that the four holdover commissioners could effectively have complete control over all road and bridge funds.