Freeport, Texas

Until 1992, the city of Freeport, Texas, elected its four-member council on an at-large basis. In that year, it began to use the single-member district system, which it had adopted as part of a settlement of litigation brought on behalf of Latino voters under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Under the subsequent single-member district method of election, minority voters demonstrated the ability to elect candidates of choice in at least two districts. Just ten years later, however, the city proposed to reinstitute the at-large method of election. But because Texas is covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, this change had to be evaluated by the Department of Justice to determine if it would discriminate against minority voters. The DOJ analysis showed that the change back to an at-large system would have a negative impact on the ability of minority voters to elect a candidate of their choice. In its letter denying approval, DOJ noted that elections in the city are "marked by a pattern of racially polarized voting." Under the at-large system, no minority preferred candidate had been successful until 1990, even though the city is 52% Hispanic and 13% Black, with 29% of the registered voters with Spanish surnames. In the 1990 election, one minority-preferred candidate narrowly won office when several Anglo-supported candidates split the vote. In contrast, in 1992 - after the adoption of single member districts - a Hispanic-preferred candidate won over significant Anglo opposition. Since then, other minority-preferred candidates have been successful in their wards. However, minority voters remain unable to elect their candidates of choice in municipal at-large elections. A return to at-large council elections, DOJ concluded, "would result in a retrogression of the ability of minorities to exercise the electoral franchise that they enjoy currently." They prevented this retrogressive change from taking effect.