[EL] VRA Decision in Section 2 Case, Montes, et al. v. Yakima

[Larry Levine]

These cases always mystify and amuse me. Probably, it's the political
campaign consultant in me. How often I've seen a minority interest head to
court for an order to divide the city into electoral districts in which they
would be able to win. Usually they end up with one or two seats in which the
minority is the majority of voters. That means they have memorialized their
minority position on the governing body. If the same amount of money spent
on the legal case were applied to the electoral process - voter registration
and get-out-the-vote activities - they could take over the entire city
council in just two election cycles. The legal challenge is the lazy way to
approach the issue. Sometimes the minority group continues to grow and
spread through the geography of the city until it elects four or even five
of the members of the five-member council. Other times it produces a
balkanization that is detrimental to the interests of the entire
geopolitical entity as in the case of the Los Angeles Unified School
District. 

Larry

 

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
[mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of
Hamilton, Kevin J. (Perkins Coie)
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2014 4:18 PM
To: [EL]
Subject: [EL] VRA Decision in Section 2 Case, Montes, et al. v. Yakima

 

Judge Rice in the Eastern District of Washington entered an order this
afternoon granting summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs in a Section
2 case challenging the Yakima City Council at-large system.  We are,
obviously, thrilled with the outcome.  Here's a link to the 67-page order.
https://aclu-wa.org/cases/montes-v-city-yakima-0[aclu-wa.org]
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=https://aclu-wa.org/cases/montes
-v-city-yakima-0&k=06%2F1%2FwqqQY9VYFo4IVhphQ%3D%3D%0A&r=oc1pYU4D2E1OvTrJv8I
P8a8TwqUETwFDCOButvOpmXI%3D%0A&m=IPux9xVpyirYS056l8szP9iEHtSvSkFAlIj0Dwp%2Bg
uw%3D%0A&s=ec7cfbfd348159b5637c40b9f24c5dded44b5d02c313d6a71cd1e0f619e27fed>


 

Kevin 

 

Kevin J. Hamilton | Perkins Coie LLP
1201 Third Avenue, Suite 4800
Seattle, WA 98101-3099
206.359.8888 (main) 
206.359.8741 (direct) 
206.359.9741 (fax)
khamilton at perkinscoie.com 

 

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