NY Suburb Scraps Election After Lawsuit
The Associated Press
www.washingtonpost.com
Mar 5, 2007
PORT CHESTER, N.Y. -- Officials in a suburban New York village will not appeal a federal judge's decision to temporarily block its upcoming election after federal officials said the voting method discriminates against Hispanics and violates the Voting Rights Act.
An appeal was "not an effective use of taxpayer dollars," Port Chester Mayor Gerald Logan said after a meeting Saturday with the village trustees.
Officials haven't yet decided whether to continue trying to preserve an at-large method of electing trustees that Justice Department lawyers say has kept Hispanics from gaining elected office.
The village is about 25 miles from New York City and is governed by a mayor and six trustees. It has used at-large elections since 1868. The village, with a population of about 28,000, is 43 percent Hispanic, according to the 2000 Census. The citizen voting-age population was 22 percent Hispanic, but no Hispanic has ever been elected as a trustee.
