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petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to grant ... - Election Law Blog

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51aAppendix D2. Senate Fac<strong>to</strong>r 3: Mechanisms that EnhanceMinority Vote DilutionThe third Senate fac<strong>to</strong>r assesses whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>re isevidence of voting procedures in place that may enhancevote dilution. Gingles, 478 U.S. at 37, 106 S.Ct. 2752. First,<strong>the</strong> parties do not dispute that Irving’s elec<strong>to</strong>ral systemrequires that a successful candidate receive <strong>the</strong> majorityvote. If one candidate does not win a majority in an Irvingelection, a run-off election is held between <strong>the</strong> <strong>to</strong>p twocandidates. (Trial Tr. vol. 1, 38-39, Feb. 20; Joint PretrialOrder 29.) The majority vote requirement is a textbookenhancing fac<strong>to</strong>r in at-large elections because it deprivesminority voters of <strong>the</strong> opportunity <strong>to</strong> elect a candidate by“single-shot” voting-i.e., of concentrating all of its votes ona single candidate. Gingles, 478 U.S. at 56, 106 S.Ct. 2752;see also City of Rome v. United States, 446 U.S. 156, 184n. 19, 100 S.Ct. 1548, 64 L.Ed.2d 119 (1980) (describing<strong>the</strong> implications of a majority vote requirement and <strong>the</strong>operation of single shot voting).Second, a numbered place system such as Irving’sslotted at-large system also prevents single-shot voting.(Joint Pretrial Order 29.) See Salas v. Southwest Texas Jr.College Dist., 964 F.2d 1542, 1544 n. 1 (5th Cir.1992) (“[a]numbered-post system requires a candidate <strong>to</strong> declare fora particular seat on a governmental body ... The systemprevents <strong>the</strong> use of bullet, or single shot, voting.”) (quotingCampos v. City of Bay<strong>to</strong>wn, 840 F.2d 1240, 1242 n. 1 (5thCir.1988)). The place system functions by separating everyseat on <strong>the</strong> City Council in<strong>to</strong> an election that is a singlevotesingle-seat election. (Trial Tr. vol. 1, 37-38, Feb. 20.)

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