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Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Another section 2 case on at-large voting for city council, this one in Michigan.
At large voting best accommodates minority interests, as long as it is structured as one person one vote. Voting by district is the first-past the post system which tends to be majoritarian.
Segregated housing patterns can lead to African-American representation in districts where they are the majority, or leading plurality, but a town that is 20% black, or latino, or whatever voting bloc, has a better chance of electing one member at large. The focus of these lawsuits should not be to change to districts, but to make sure the at-large voting is properly structured, and does not use a "one person five votes" type  system which lets a majority voting bloc exclude other viewpoints.

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