Cumulative voting a boost for minority community: May 4 election declared great success in Amarillo, Texas.

• Position: Thinking Politically - Brief Article

The Center for Voting and Democracy

On Saturday, May 4, 2002, cumulative voting was used to elect three members to the school board in the Amarillo Independent School District (ISD). The Amarillo ISD is the largest American jurisdiction using cumulative voting, with more than 160,000 people. In the two elections since cumulative voting was adopted to a settle a minority voting rights challenge in 1999, the school board has gone from all-white to having 4 white representatives 2 Latino representatives and 1 black representative.

"This was an important election. It was our second attempt at getting another minority on the school board in Amarillo," said Rita Sandoval, 1 of the 2 minorities elected to the school board in 2000. Amarillo holds staggered elections where approximately half the board is elected every two years.

For minorities seeking to elect someone from their community to the board, cumulative voting certainly was a success. Latina challenger Janie Rivas was successfully elected, gathering the second highest vote total. The other two winners were a white challenger and a white incumbent. A white incumbent was defeated. "Initial results show that Janie Rivas benefited from cumulative voting," reports Dr. David Rausch, assistant professor of Political Science at West Texas A&M University.

Cumulative voting was enacted as a settlement to a lawsuit brought by the League of United Latin American Citizens, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and three individuals against Amarillo ISD. The groups were seeking a fairer election system under the Voting Rights Act because the former at-large election system diluted the Latino and African American vote. With cumulative voting, the voter can distribute their votes more...