Voting Rights Lawsuit Challenges Single Member Districts In Irving
A voting rights lawsuit filed Tuesday seeks to strike down single member districts in the north Texas city of Irving on the ground that the present at-large voting system for city council elections denies representation to the city’s Hispanic population.
From The Dallas Morning News:
The lawsuit requests that a U.S. District Court declare that the at-large method violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It also asks that the city be ordered to disband at-large voting and develop a new system of electing council members.
The lawsuit mirrors a successful 1988 suit that challenged Dallas’ at-large elections, claiming they hurt the ability of minorities to get elected. That landmark case eventually led to Dallas’ current and sometimes controversial 14 single-member districts and at-large mayoral post.
It comes as no surprise that the city’s large Hispanic population is seeking better representation on the city council:
The suit comes at a time when Irving officials are facing criticism from the Hispanic community over their use of a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement program that turns arrested illegal immigrants over for deportation. Hispanic activists have said rumors of massive raids and deportations have spread fear among their community and strained relations with officials. City officials, however, say they are merely taking advantage of a federal program available to every municipality. Legal residents and non-criminals have nothing to fear from police, they have said.
This could be an interesting lawsuit. I strongly suspect the unrest in Irving will continue as long as the city tries to play like they are the feds.
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