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JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUES CHARLESTON COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Charleston County, South Carolina was sued today because its method of electing its governing body does not provide an equal opportunity for black citizens to participate in the electoral process, the Justice Department announced.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Charleston, alleges that the at-large method used to elect the County Council of Charleston County, South Carolina, violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 because it dilutes the voting strength of the county's black citizens. Today's lawsuit is the result of an extensive investigation conducted by the Civil Rights Division into the city's electoral practices and history.

"The Voting Rights Act guarantees that minority citizens have the opportunity for meaningful participation in the democratic process," said Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "We believe today's lawsuit will help bring down the barriers preventing Charleston County's black citizens from having an equal opportunity to elect representatives to their county government."

The Charleston County Council consists of nine members who are elected at large to four-year staggered terms. The nine members are from four residency districts but are elected county wide. According to the 1990 Census, black persons constitute 35% of the county's total population and 31% of the voting age population, and according to the South Carolina Election Commission, 31% of the county's registered voters were nonwhite as of October 1, 2000.

On November 14, 2000, the Justice Department completed an extensive investigation and notified Charleston County in writing that the Department had concluded that the method of electing the city council violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Following its investigation, the Justice Department invited the county to engage in settlement discussions. But, thus far discussions and meetings to reach a settlement have been unsuccessful. The United States is filing this suit now to ensure that if a negotiated settlement cannot be reached in the future, there is ample time for the court to hear the allegations of a violation of the Voting Rights Act, and, in the event that the United States prevails at such a trial, to require implementation of an appropriate remedy in time for the next regularly scheduled primary election in June 2002.

The Justice Department's complaint alleges that racially polarized 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 Charleston in violation of Section 2. The Justice Department's review of past county council elections found that black voters in Charleston are politically cohesive, but that white voters usually vote as a bloc to defeat black voters' candidates of choice. The complaint states that there is only one black member of the Charleston County Council. Today's lawsuit seeks a change in the method of electing the Charleston County Council to provide black voters an equal opportunity to elect their candidates of choice.

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