4 ABBOTT v. PEREZ Opinion of the Court restricts the consideration of race in the districting process, compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 79 Stat. 437, as amended, 52 U. S. C. §10301 et seq. (VRA), pulls in the opposite direction: It often insists that districts be created precisely because of race. Two provisions of the VRA exert such demands, and in 2011, Texas was subject to both. At that time, Texas was covered by §5 of the VRA4 and was thus barred from making any districting changes unless it could prove that they did not result in “retrogression” with respect to the ability of racial minorities to elect the candidates of their choice. Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama, 575 U. S. ___, ___ (2015) (slip op., at 3). That showing obviously demanded consideration of race. On top of this, Texas was (and still is) required to comply with §2 of the VRA. A State violates §2 if its districting plan provides “ ‘less opportunity’ ” for racial minorities “ ‘to elect representatives of their choice.’ ” League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry, 548 U. S. 399, 425 (2006) (LULAC). In a series of cases tracing back to Thornburg v. Gingles, 478 U. S. 30 (1986), we have interpreted this standard to mean that, under certain circumstance, States must draw “opportunity” districts in which minority groups form “effective majorit[ies],” LULAC, supra, at 426. Since the Equal Protection Clause restricts consideration of race and the VRA demands consideration of race, a legislature attempting to produce a lawful districting plan is vulnerable to “ ‘competing hazards of liability.’ ” Bush v. Vera, 517 U. S. 952, 977 (1996) (plurality opinion). In an effort to harmonize these conflicting demands, we have assumed that compliance with the VRA may justify the consideration of race in a way that would not otherwise be allowed. In technical terms, we have assumed that complying with the VRA is a compelling state interest, see, —————— 4 See Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U. S. 529 (2013).