On October 24, 2008, the Department simultaneously filed a
complaint and proposed consent decree against the City of Calera, AL alleging violations of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. On August 25, the Department interposed a Section 5
objection against the City regarding numerous annexations and the 2008 redistricting plan.
The consent decree, which was entered by the court on October 29, will stop implementation of the new voting districts until Section 5 preclearance is obtained.
On October 26, 2009, the Court entered a consent judgment and decree
replacing the current at-large method of election with a limited voting plan providing for the election
of four Commissioners with concurrent terms. On March 31, 2009, the Department filed
a complaint against the Town of Lake Park in Palm Beach County, FL
for violations of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The complaint alleges that the Town's at-large
system of electing its Commissioners denies black voters an equal opportunity to elect representatives
of their choice. Although black voting age citizens compose 38% of Lake Park's total citizen voting
age population, no black candidate has ever been elected to office since the Town's founding in 1923.
On October 15, 2009, the court granted summary judgment for
the United States in a case against the Commonwealth of Virginia under the Uniformed and Overseas
Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA). The court held that the Commonwealth violated UOCAVA by
failing to mail absentee ballots to eligible uniformed service members and overseas citizens
thirty days or more before the November 4, 2008 general federal election.
On August 17, 2009, the Department interposed an objection against
the City of Kinston in Lenoir County, NC on the change to a nonpartisan method of election for mayor
and council members.
On August 10, 2009, the Department interposed an objection against
the State of Louisiana Act No. 136 (2008), which reenacted a prohibition against modifying voting
precincts between January first of a year ending in nine and December thirty-first of a year ending
in three.
On January 29, 2009, the Department filed a Brief
for the United States as Amicus Curiae in the case of Pérez-Santiago v. Volusia
County, et. al. (M.D. Fla.), addressing the requirements for stating a claim
under Section 4(e) of the Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1973b(e). The Department’s
brief clarifies issues raised regarding the application of Section 4(e) in Defendants’
Motions to Dismiss, a complaint filed by Latino Justice/PRLDEF and local counsel,
on behalf of Plaintiffs who are Puerto Rican voters in Volusia County.
On January 17, 2008, the Court issued a decision and order
for the United States in its Section 2 complaint against the Village of Port Chester NY. The Court had earlier issued
a preliminary injunction against the Village of Port Chester.
Section 5 submissions may now be filed in writing or electronically.
