Could Port Chester’s four-year-old voting rights case, which yielded a cumulative voting system for village trustees in June, be destined for an appeal?
The Board of Trustees scheduled two meetings this week with appellate attorneys who have worked on high-profile voting rights cases: today with Greg Coleman, and Wednesday with Michael Carvin. Each discussion is scheduled for 6 p.m. in a private session.
Port Chester’s at-large voting system was ruled discriminatory to Hispanic voters in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, after the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in 2006. All six trustee seats were filled in a special election June 15 under a cumulative voting method. Port Chester had argued for that remedy after losing the case.
There has been no final decision in the voting rights lawsuit, and any move to appeal would happen after that decision is filed, Mayor Dennis Pilla said. Ironically the trustees who were elected under the new method are the ones now exploring an appeal.
More to come on this.
1 Comment
[...] Chester, it seems all is not well in the social justice hamlet after all. Several weeks ago in an ironic turn of events, “the trustees who were elected under the new method are the ones now exploring an [...]