LITTLE ROCK — Four black residents and one Hispanic resident of Little Rock are challenging the city's method of selecting city directors, saying the current system favors white voters and dilutes the voting strength of members of minority groups.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Little Rock, the plaintiffs advocate the dissolving of the city's three at-large positions and the rezoning of the city from seven individually represented wards to 10.
The lawsuit aims to dismantle a segregation-era City Hall system originally approved by Little Rock voters in 1956. Many neighborhood and black activists have long criticized at-large seats as a way to keep blacks mostly off the city board.
For more information see today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
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