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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A southwest Georgia county was sued today because its method of electing its governing body does not provide an equal opportunity for black citizens to participate in the electoral process, the Justice Department announced.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus, Georgia, alleges that the at-large method used to elect the Board of Commissioners in Marion County, Georgia, violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 because it dilutes the voting strength of minorities. Today's lawsuit is the result of an extensive investigation conducted by the Civil Rights Division into the county's electoral practices and history.

"The Voting Rights Act guarantees that all citizens have the right to fully participate in the democratic process," said Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "We hope today's lawsuit will help bring down the barriers preventing Marion County's black citizens from having an equal opportunity to elect a representative to the Board of Commissioners."

Although black citizens make up more than 40% of the total population of Marion County, black voters have never been successful in electing a candidate of their choice to the three-member Board of Commissioners. Under the current system, each of the Board's members is elected at-large, meaning each must receive a majority, or more than 50%, of the votes of the entire county to be elected. The Justice Department's analysis of previous county elections found that though black voters in Marion County are politically cohesive, white voters, who form a majority of the county's electorate, usually vote as a bloc to defeat the black community's candidate of choice. This bloc voting, in combination with the use of an at-large election system, results in a dilution of the voting strength of the black community in Marion County in violation of the Voting Rights Act.

Today's lawsuit seeks a change in the method of electing the Board of Commissioners in Marion County that would give minority voters an equal opportunity to elect their candidates of choice.

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