not in ny it's not...
Posted on 01/22/2008 4:54:37 PM PST by SmithL
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—A suburban village has been violating the Voting Rights Act by using an election system that leaves its rapidly growing Hispanic population without representation, a federal judge said Tuesday.
The decision against Port Chester, on the Connecticut border 25 miles from New York City, is expected to force a revision of the village's at-large election system, in which all voters cast ballots for each of the six trustee positions that run the village government.
The likely alternative is a district system, in which each district would elect one trustee. One district would be drawn around Hispanic neighborhoods to increase the chances that a Hispanic-backed candidate would be elected.
Judge Stephen Robinson, who held a trial last May when the village and the Justice Department could not settle the case, said the at-large system "prevents Hispanic voters from participating equally in the political process in the village."
The government had alleged that the at-large system allowed candidates preferred by whites to win all the trustee elections because whites tended to vote in a bloc. No Hispanic has ever been elected trustee or mayor in Port Chester, although the population is almost half Hispanic. The white population votes in greater numbers.
Robinson gave each side until Feb. 7 to recommend solutions. The government has already suggested plans it said would accomplish a Hispanic district, but the village said the plans would devalue the votes in the non-Hispanic districts, which would have larger populations.
Anthony Piscionere, Port Chester's attorney, said the village was disappointed but not surprised. Piscionere said he would meet with the trustees Tuesday night "to determine the next steps." It was too early to decide whether to appeal, he said.
Said U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia: "We hope that Port Chester will move forward and work with us to develop a district-based election system that remedies the violation."
Robinson blocked last March's trustee elections with an injunction, and they have yet to be held. Meanwhile, a new election is scheduled for this March. It was not clear what effect Tuesday's decision would have on that election.
Last year's mayoral election went on as scheduled, and the judge noted that it featured "a blatant racial message." He was apparently referring to an anonymous flier that included the statement, "The Hispanics are running the show already."
Robinson said he was troubled by the fact that such a message "emerged in the midst of the ongoing proceedings in this case."
He ruled that the government had met the three principal requirements established by precedents: that the minority group is big enough and compact enough to constitute a majority in a single-member district; that it is politically cohesive and votes as a bloc; and that bloc voting by the white majority generally defeats the minority's preferred candidate.
The government has already suggested plans it said would accomplish a Hispanic district, but the village said the plans would devalue the votes in the non-Hispanic districts, which would have larger populations.
Some agendas are more equal than others.
Wonder what Eldridge Gerry would have to say about this particular scheme?
Hispanics typically have very low turnouts in the northeast. Since few even bother to register, these districts are the equivalent of the old English “rotten boroughs” which had a geographical mass in opposite proportion to their low voting population.
This kind of thing is discouraging — but maybe that’s what they want.
"Ethnic gerrymandering" has been a fact of life 'round these parts for 120 years, at least.
because whites tended to vote in a bloc. No Hispanic has ever been elected trustee or mayor in Port Chester, although the population is almost half Hispanic.
Am I supposed to believe that Hispanics won't vote in a bloc for a Hispanic person? Isn't the Hispanic bloc allowed to put forth whatever candidate they want?
I don't see why they've got to restructure the entire election system just because Hispanics there have poor voter turnout. What would this mean on a federal level . . . ?
So if the outcome of the process is more important to whites or some other subgroup, what's wrong with that group disproportionately getting what they want? If only whites voted at all in Port Chester, would DOJ want to overturn those election results as well? How about if only Hispanics bothered to vote? Would the results pass muster then?
Gerrymandering is unconstitutional?
Thanks — explains everything...
Over time what has the Hispanic population been? Suppose in 1790 it was 0.0001%. Then in 1840 it was 0.0002%. Then in 1890 it was 0.0003%. Then in 1940 it was 0.0004%. Then in 1990 it was 30%, and in 2000 it was 45%.
But hey, it’s never elected a Hispanic, so it must be unfair.
For those who don’t know, Port Chester has historically been where the “hired help” for Greenwich and Rye (it is between the two affluent towns) live. Good place for Brazilian food, at least it was 10 years ago.
not in ny it's not...
That would probably depend on who was benefitting.
We have towns in Hudson County, NJ that have been majority Hispanic for 20-30 years now, but still have Mayors with last names like Sacco and Stack. You don’t show up to vote, you live with the consequences.
The Republicans in Florida gerrymandered the districts to our advantage. I see NO problem with gerrymandering.
It is the village..Hillary is the Mayor...JK
A Hispanic would be able to be more likely to be voted upon if most Hispanics were legal. Illegal aliens can’t vote. If they want a Hispanic representative, then get legal Hispanics, DUH!
Isn’t it racially prejudicial for the judge to state that either whites or Hispanics vote as a bloc, and further to state that those blocs are in opposition to each other (i.e. that white people and Hispanic people have such different interests that they could not support the same candidate)?
Furthermore, it’s absurd to think that at least white people vote as a bloc. Whites are still the majority in most places in the U.S.; if we all voted the same way only candidates that I (as a white guy) liked would be elected. Yet we have a Democrat majority. So obviously there are a whole lot of white people who vote very differently from me.
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