A Redistricting Dilemma for a Florida School Board

A Redistricting Dilemma for a Florida School Board

Lee County, Florida - The Lee County school board is debating whether redistricting is needed to elect a minority to its school board, which represents a county that is 55% minority.  A recent Supreme Court case, politics, and general confusion about redistricting has delayed any action so far.  This editorial in the News-Press gives a detailed discussion of the problem and the boards ongoing struggle with minority representation issues.
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Cumulative Voting for School Board Ordered By Federal Court in Missouri

Cumulative Voting for School Board Ordered By Federal Court in Missouri

Missouri - Late last month a federal district court ended a two year challenge to the Ferguson-Florissant School District's use of at-large elections for its seven member school board.  The court ruled in August, that at-large elections for board members did violate section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.  The court's order requires the school district to use a cumulative voting system with staggered terms and off-cycle elections, preceded by a voter education program, much like the one described in the cumulative voting educational video below. https://youtu.be/L-n_D16bchM  
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Anatomy of a Section 2 Lawsuit: Ferguson-Florissant School District

Anatomy of a Section 2 Lawsuit: Ferguson-Florissant School District

The Missouri State Conference of the NAACP filed a lawsuit against the Ferguson-Florissant School District this past December in a quest to discontinue the at-large elections of its seven member board and instead divide the school district into seven election districts from which each board member will be elected. Changing the method of election in this way is sure to dramatically change the composition of the board in favor of the African-American families in the district. Why? As it turns out, the Ferguson-Florissant School District’s demographics and political environment is indeed a microcosm of the sad state of race relations…
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