In
April 2003 the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
Under Law, along with the law firm Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher,
LLP and local counsel, Paul DerOhannesian, filed a lawsuit
and motion for preliminary injunctive relief in the United
State District Court, Northern District of New York, on
behalf of Black and Hispanic voters in Albany County,
New York. The complaint alleged that the County’s
redistricting plan violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights
Act of 1965 in that it failed to create a fourth majority
minority district even though the County’s minority
population had increased substantially within the City
of Albany. By maintaining the same number of majority
minority districts, the County diluted the voting strength
of Black and Hispanic voters and significantly impacted
their ability to elect a candidate of their choice to
the Albany County Legislature.
United
States District Court Judge Mordue granted our motion
for a preliminary injunction, declaring that the County’s
redistricting plan denies minority voters an equal opportunity
to participate in the political system in Albany County.
Elections for Albany County Legislature were prohibited
from being held under the County’s discriminatory
redistricting plan.
In
response to our lawsuit, the County proposed a new redistricting
plan that created four majority minority districts; however,
the plan is unsatisfactory to our clients for several
reasons. First, the percentage of minority voters in the
majority minority districts was not high enough, based
on past voter turnout and voter registration rates, to
create an effective majority minority district. Second,
the County’s plan divided two predominantly Black
neighborhoods into two different districts, thereby splitting
up longstanding communities of interest.
United States Magistrate Judge Homer held a three day
evidentiary hearing on the County’s remedial redistricting
plan on September 8 – 10, 2003. Magistrate Judge
Homer ruled that the County’s plan, although it may
not be an ideal plan, does not violate the Voting Rights
Act.
Voting
Rights Project
