Ferguson Florissant School District v. Missouri State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, et al.

Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 forbids state and local voting processes that “result[] in a denial or abridgment of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race. . . .” As this Court recognized in League of United Latin Am. Citizens (LULAC) v. Perry, 548 U.S. 399, 508 (2006), “the ultimate right of §2 is equality of opportunity, not a guarantee of electoral success for minority preferred candidates of whatever race.” The Ferguson Florissant School District is required by Missouri Statute (Sections 162.261 and 162.291 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri) to elect its School Board members through an at-large electoral system. Presently, three of the seven members are minority preferred candidates. Under the 2010 census data, those identifying as African-American accounted for 48.19% of the voting age population. Compelling evidence was presented at trial to suggest that those identifying as African-American now constitute a majority of the voting age population. The question presented is: Does Section 2 of the Voting Right Act of 1965 allow a minority group to bring a claim against a school district’s statutorily imposed at-large electoral system where the minority group forms a numerical majority of the voting age population or, at a minimum, where the Non-Hispanic white population does not form a numerical majority?