preclearance

[pree-kleer-uhns]

noun

1. approval, authorization, or permission granted in advance.

   Under company procedures, certain high-ranking executives are only allowed to sell shares after obtaining preclearance.

2. Transportation.,  customs, security, or immigration authorization granted in advance for passengers or goods traveling or moving across borders (often used attributively).

   The preclearance facility at Terminal 2 allows outbound passengers to undertake all U.S. immigration, customs, and agriculture inspections prior to departure.

3. Law.,  under the U.S. Voting Rights Act, approval from the Justice Department or federal courts for changes to voting laws, processes, or districts (often used attributively).

   In order to prevent changes that have a discriminatory purpose or effect, certain jurisdictions are required to obtain preclearance before implementing new voting practices.

Word History and Origins

Origin of preclearance¹

First recorded in 1925–30; pre- ( def. ) + clearance ( def. )

Example Sentences

In 2013, the Supreme Court effectively ended the other major component of the Voting Rights Act, the preclearance provision, which required certain states to have changes to their elections laws approved by the federal government, including redistricting.

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Roberts would call a similar tune when the court slowly put an end to preclearance, the most important enforcement mechanism within the Voting Rights Act.

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A tiny neighborhood water district in the northwest corner of Austin, Texas, with an elected board sought to challenge preclearance, which required an extra set of eyes on any changes to voting laws or election procedures in the states with the most lengthy track records of bad behavior.

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Two lower courts had disemboweled the district’s request to escape preclearance and affirmed the larger question of its constitutionality, citing a careful study of a 16,000-page congressional record built during the 2006 reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act and Supreme Court precedent.

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Holder, when Roberts and the court eviscerated preclearance in a 5-to-4 party line decision, he would cite his own made up dicta as law: “As we made clear in Northwest Austin, the fundamental principle of equal sovereignty remains highly pertinent in assessing subsequent disparate treatment of States.”

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