Federal lawsuit says a Kansas city's election system keeps Latino candidates out of office

About 65% of Dodge City’s residents are Latino. But a coalition of voting rights groups argues that an "at-large" election system allows the city’s white voting bloc to prevent the Latino population from electing candidates. No Latino candidate has been elected to the commission this century.
A coalition of voting rights groups says Dodge City’s election system is designed to prevent the community’s Latino population from holding office on the city commission.

In a complaint filed late Thursday in federal court, the coalition argues the “at-large” election system is unconstitutional and a violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The lawsuit was filed by the UCLA Voting Rights Project, American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, the national ACLU, and New York City-based law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton. The city uses an at-large election system, in which all city residents can vote for each of the five seats on the city commission.