A federal requirement under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act that, until 2013, obligated jurisdictions with documented histories of racial discrimination in voting to obtain approval from the Department of Justice or a federal court before changing voting laws or procedures, grounded in enforcement of the Fifteenth Amendment. Its coverage and enforcement mechanism was effectively nullified by the Supreme Court's decision in Shelby County v. Holder (2013), significantly reducing federal oversight of state and local election rules.