Laughlin McDonald of the ACLU confirms what we posted was the real story behind the DOJ retreat on the Georgia citizenship verification: fear that the U.S. District Court would rule Section 5 unconstitutional and that filing a submission in court is the better way for jurisdictions to obtain preclearance for controversial submissions.  Simply, bypass DOJ and allege Section 5 is unconstitutional in your court filing.  From the Atlanta Journal Constitution:
But McDonald said it could be that the Justice Department decided to preclear the Georgia program to avoid a worse fate in court. The state’s lawsuit said if the court found its system allowable under the Voting Rights Act, that it should also rule all of Section 5 unconstitutional. The Obama administration probably didn’t want to take the chance of that happening, he said.

“That obviously was something that drove the decision,” McDonald said. “The Department of Justice and others were concerned what this [Supreme Court] would do if it was given an opportunity to rehear a case like this.”