Richland and Lexington Counties, South Carolina

In 2004, the Richland-Lexington School District No. 5 in Richland and Lexington Counties, South Carolina proposed to change its method for electing members of the school board. The district is close to 15% Black, with a rapidly growing Black population. In the existing system, the seven members of the school board were elected at large to staggered four-year terms. Thus, there were often two or more seats open at any one time, and the highest vote getters in each election were elected to the open seats. The district sought to change its system to include numbered posts and a majority vote requirement, thus eliminating the ability of a cohesive minority (like Blacks in this case) from electing their candidate of choice. However, because South Carolina is covered by Section 5 of the VRA, the jurisdiction had to get federal approval before this change could be implemented. The Department of Justice concluded that in this case, where there was strong evidence of racially polarized voting, the use of numbered posts and a majority vote requirement would "prevent black voters from using single-shot voting to elect candidates of their choice." Therefore, the change could not be put into effect and Black voters could continue have a chance to elect their candidate of choice.