Georgia v. Holder
District Court, District of Columbia · 2010-11-02
In Georgia v. Holder, the State of Georgia sought judicial preclearance under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act for its revised voter registration application verification process, or alternatively a declaration that Section 5 was unconstitutional. After the Department of Justice granted administrative preclearance, the parties jointly moved to dismiss the case as moot under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(2). Intervenors agreed the case was moot but asked the court to impose conditions requiring explanations of the administrative process; the court rejected those conditions as improper and granted the dismissal. The core reasoning was that administrative preclearance under the Voting Rights Act resolves the sole legal issue in the judicial proceeding with no judicial review of the Attorney General's decision, rendering the action moot.