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MORGAN CITY, LOUISIANA TO IMPLEMENT NEW COUNCIL

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A southern Louisiana city has agreed to change the way it elects its five-member city council in order to resolve allegations that its current system does not provide an equal opportunity for black citizens to participate in the electoral process, under an agreement reached with the Justice Department, the United States Attorney, and black citizens of Morgan City represented by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law.

The agreement, which was approved today by federal district court Judge Tucker L. Melançon in the Western District of Louisiana, resolves the Justice Department's lawsuit filed in June of this year and the private lawsuit filed in the following month. Both suits, consolidated by today's agreement, alleged that the at-large method of voting used to elect the City Council of Morgan City, Louisiana, violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 because it dilutes the voting strength of black voters in the City. The agreement provides that the City will use five single-member voting districts, one of which is majority-black and four of which are majority-white, beginning in the October 2000 primary election.

"We are very pleased to achieve a settlement that will ensure that all voters in Morgan City will be able to fully participate in the democratic process," said Bill Lann Lee, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.

"This is an important case for the citizens of Morgan City," said United States Attorney Bill Flanagan. "We are especially pleased that all parties were able to settle this lawsuit in time for the fall elections, and that all of Morgan City's voters will now have the opportunity for full and equal participation in the election of their City Council."

Although black citizens make up more than 20% of the total population of Morgan City, black voters have never been successful in electing a candidate of their choice to the five-member City Council. Under the City's at-large system, each of the Council's members must receive a majority, or more than 50%, of the votes of the City to be elected. The Justice Department's analysis of previous City elections found that although black voters in Morgan City are politically cohesive, white voters, who form a majority of the City's electorate, usually vote as a bloc to defeat the black community's candidate of choice. This bloc voting, in combination with the use of an at-large election system, results in a dilution of the voting strength of the black community in Morgan City in violation of the Voting Rights Act.

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