After Port Chester, could Newburgh be next?
The Newburgh City Council members would do well to read The New York Times article Councilwoman Marge Bell distributed at the work session meeting last Thursday night. The January 23, 2008 published article, “Village’s At-Large Voting Is Found to Be Biased,” reports that Port Chester’s at-large system of voting – identical to the system in the City of Newburgh – violates federal election law.
The lawsuit was prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. According to the DOJ website,
Enforcement of the Act has also increased the opportunity of black and Latino voters to elect representatives of their choice by providing a vehicle for challenging discriminatory election methods such as at-large elections, racially gerrymandered districting plans, or runoff requirements that may dilute minority voting strength.
In another case of enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, the City of Chelsea, MA evaded a Department of Justice trial by signing a Memorandum of Understanding. The violation was outlined in a letter from the DOJ to the City of Chelsea, MA on April 15, 2003:
The Hispanic population in Chelsea is sufficiently numerous and geographically compact such that it is possible to draw a single-member-district voting plan in which Hispanic persons would constitute a majority of the total population and voting age population in two out of seven districts. Moreover, other factors probative of a Section 2 violation are present in the city; it appears that Hispanic residents still bear the effects of past discrimination in areas such as education, employment, and housing.
In the Memorandum of Understanding Between the City Of Chelsea, Massachusetts and the United States, of October 28, 2003, the City agreed that:
5. The usual and appropriate remedy for at-large methods of election that dilute minority voting strength in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is the drawing of districting plans that do not dilute minority voting strength.
Bell’s citation of the Port Chester decision arose during discussion of the Charter Review. Last year the Charter Review Commission recommended that the at-large voting for council members be replaced by a ward system. The council voted against putting the charter change before voters in a referendum this past November. With a new council, Mayor Valentine asked what their opinion was with regards to the Charter Review Commission’s recommendations. Excerpts of that discussion are in the video below.
Councilwoman Christine Bello expressed concerns that the ward system would dilute the strength of the Republican party in Newburgh. Councilwoman Mary Ann Leo-Dickinson was concerned about balkanization.
In describing the ward system’s benefits, Marge Bell said “It’s good that there’s a Latino Spanish-speaking representative for the section of the Heights, where most of the people speak Spanish. I mean it’s more appropriate than me, or any of the people here.”
For full video of the charter discussion, view part 1 and part 2.
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