Judge Rules School Board Elections Violate Voting Rights Act
ACLU Calls Ruling A Victory For Political Equality
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org
COLUMBIA, SC – A federal judge ruled late Thursday that the method of electing members to a South Carolina county school board resulted in unlawful racial discrimination in violation of the Voting Rights Act. The decision comes in a long-running American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit challenging Lexington County School District Three elections that dilute the minority vote. In her ruling, Judge Margaret B. Seymour of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina ordered new proposals to change the election method within 60 days.
“This is a victory for political equality,” said Laughlin McDonald, Director of the ACLU Voting Rights Project. “The judge’s decision made it very clear that racially polarized voting in the school district is a major problem. We have made a lot of progress when it comes to voting rights, but this decision shows the continuing importance of the Voting Rights Act to ensure effective minority participation in the political process.”
The school board district has a significant minority population and, before 1994, three black individuals were elected to the board. That year, elections were changed from being held annually during the last week of February to November of even-numbered years, to coincide with the general election. Following that change, not a single minority was elected until after the lawsuit was filed in 2003. Judge Seymour found that “there are lingering socio-economic effects of discrimination” in the county and that black voters in the school district “have been denied equal opportunity to elect School Board members of their choice.”
“This is an incredible decision that will have a significant impact for the black community in this district,” said R.O. Levy, a plaintiff in the case. “We will now have a more effective say in the operation of schools in the district. This is what equal opportunity in elections is all about.”
Attorneys in the case are McDonald and Meredith Bell-Platts of the ACLU Voting Rights Project and cooperating attorney Herbert Buhl of Columbia, SC.
Stay Informed
Every month, you'll receive regular roundups of the most important civil rights and civil liberties developments. Remember: a well-informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.
By completing this form, I agree to receive occasional emails per the terms of the ACLU’s privacy policy.
The Latest in Voting Rights
-
Historic Win: U.S. Supreme Court Rules Alabama’s Congressional Map Violates the Voting Rights Act by Diluting Black Political Power
-
Utah State Legislature v. League of Women Voters
-
New Motions Filed in Lawsuit Challenging Georgia’s Omnibus Anti-Voter Law Seek to Defend Against Racial Discrimination and Remove Barriers to Absentee Voting
-
Voting and Immigrants’ Rights Advocates Sue Over New Florida Law That Targets Voter Registration, Civic Engagement, and Political Speech
ACLU's Vision
The American Civil Liberties Union is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America.
Learn More About Voting Rights
Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy and the fundamental right upon which all our civil liberties rest. The ACLU works to protect and expand Americansʼ freedom to vote.