NAACP Legal Defense Fund Statement on At-Large Elections

Why is at-large voting discriminatory?

At-large methods of election are often discriminatory because they,

in combination with racially polarized voting, prevent voters of color

from electing their candidates of choice where they are not the majority

in the jurisdiction. Under this system, the votes of voters of color often

are drowned out or submerged by the votes of a majority of white voters

who often do not support the candidates preferred by Black voters.

How does at-large voting affect communities of color?

Fewer and fewer districts still practice at-large voting. That is

because courts and other decision-makers long have recognized that

discriminatory methods of election, like at-large voting, enhance

the discrimination that communities of color experience because of

socioeconomic and other disparities in life opportunities between

Black and white communities.

LDF has long worked to eradicate discriminatory at-large methods of

election that dilute the voting strength of communities of color.”

Download the entire  NAACP Legal Defense Fund Statement on At-Large Elections