The lawsuit filed by the League of United Latin American Citizens alleges the use of at-large districts — where all voters across the city can vote for the candidates, instead of voters within a specific district — violates the Voting Rights Act.
Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle via AP fileThe nation’s oldest Latino civil rights organization accused the city of Houston in a federal lawsuit of denying Latinos fair representation by allowing voters citywide to elect five council members.
"Houston's the only major city in Texas where five council members are elected at large and in essence, disenfranchising the Latino community," Domingo Garcia, LULAC president, said in a phone interview."All the other major cities, Austin, El Paso, Fort Worth, Dallas, have all single member districts and have Latino representation that's reflective of their diversity.
The lawsuit notes that in 1979, Houston’s City Council went from almost all white male to a more diverse body after voters elected the first two women and first Mexican American to the council and tripled the number of Black council members.
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