In that case, the Supreme Court set three conditions required to prove a case of vote dilution in violation of the Voting Rights Act. The factors were: the minority group was sufficiently numerous and geographically compact to form a majority in a single-member district (compactness); the minority group was politically cohesive (racial bloc voting); and the White majority usually voted as a bloc sufficient to defeat the minority's preferred candidate (racially polarized voting).
Hattiesburg argued in its brief that its ward lines do not violate that decision.
The city argued plaintiffs failed to show that three geographically compact wards with majority-Black voting age populations could be created without excluding the University of Southern Mississippi and William Carey dormitory residents.
“Therefore, plaintiffs have failed to prove ... that the minority group is sufficiently large and geographically compact to constitute a voting age majority in a single member district,” the city said in its briefs.
The plaintiffs claim the city did violate the Voting Rights Act by dumping all the university students into one ward and diluting Black voting strength in that ward. If drawn differently, the plaintiffs argued that three majority-Black wards could be created even if the college students were included.
The plaintiffs contend the city packed Black voters into two city wards with minority population majorities of more than 70 percent.
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