FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                    CR
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1994                                  (202) 616-2765
                                                         TDD (202) 514-1888

                                     
         NEWPORT NEWS TO IMPLEMENT NEW VOTING METHOD FOR ELECTING
         CITY COUNCIL UNDER AGREEMENT WITH THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Newport News, Virginia, will change the
way it elects its seven member city council under an agreement
reached today with the Justice Department.  
     The agreement was filed today in U.S. District Court in
Newport News together with a complaint charging that the city's
method of election was unconstitutional and violated the Voting
Rights Act of 1965.  It is the first case brought by the Justice
Department under the Voting Rights Act challenging a voting system
in Virginia.
     The suit alleged that the at-large method, in which city
residents vote for all seven council members, denied black voters
an equal opportunity to participate in the political process.  It
claimed that the city's racially polarized voting patterns allowed
majority white voters in Newport News to defeat the candidates of
choice of black voters who constitute 34% of the population.
     In the last four council elections in Newport News, only one
black candidate was elected while several other black candidates,
who received the strong support of black voters, were defeated. 
Both the Supreme Court and Congress have recognized that at-large
elections tend to discriminate against minority voters in areas
where voting is polarized along racial lines. 
     Under the agreement, which must be approved by the federal
court, the fourth largest city in Virginia will scrap its present
system in favor of a one-year old system that has been used to
elect members of its school board.  The new system will divide the
city into three districts and allow voters in each of the districts
to elect two council members.  The mayor will be elected at-large
by the city's voters.  One of the districts, situated in the
southeastern part of the city, will have a substantial black voting
age majority.  
     "This nation must cast aside voting systems that exclude
African Americans from the political process," said Assistant
Attorney General for Civil Rights Deval L. Patrick.  "Today's
settlement fulfills the promise of the Voting Rights Act by
providing minority voters with an equal opportunity to participate
in Newport News city politics."    
     The agreement requires the city to hold a special election in
May 1996, in which voters in the majority black district will be
able to vote for their two representatives, and voters throughout
the city will be able to vote for mayor.
     The suit asserted that blacks have suffered from a history of
discrimination in voting and other areas and continue to suffer the
effects of such discrimination.
     In July a group of black voters in Newport News filed suit
raising similar claims.  Under the agreement, that suit would be
consolidated with the one filed by the Justice Department and
resolved.
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