Council to debate voting district setup

Council to debate voting district setup

Marion officials to weigh at- large, by- district election method

news@theeveningtimes.com

Marion City Council is expected to hear debate on whether the city should do away with its current atlarge voting system and move to one based on wards only.

Former City Councilwoman Sherry Holliman brought the topic up at the September meeting and was told that the city would do some research on the topic and place it on the October meeting agenda for discussion.

Holliman has circulated a letter urging concerned citizens to show up to the meeting to voice their opinion.

“Please attend the next council meeting for October 25th to hear and provide conversation pertaining to this matter,” Holliman said in an email.

Marion has used an atlarge voting system since 1946.

Under an at-large voting system, voters cast ballots for all candidates.

Critics contend that atlarge voting discriminates against minorities and allows voters in other parts of the city to decide who represents a district they don’t live in.

According to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, at-large methods of voting are often discriminatory because they prevent voters of color from electing candidates of their choice where they are not the majority in the ward or district.

Since the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, numerous at-large systems have been struck down under Section 2, which prohibits every state and local government from imposing any law that results in discrimination against racial minorities.

“Our city has a diverse population and is continuing to grow, and our elected leadership should reflect the demographics of our city,” writes a concerned citizen. “The mixed voting method has made diversifying the council very difficult.”

Aside from Turrell, Marion is the only city in Crittenden County and in the surrounding area which uses at-large voting. West Memphis, Sunset, Earle, Hughes, Forrest City, Marked Tree, Lepanto, and Memphis all have voting by ward.

“Marion is one of the last cities locally to embrace atlarge voting with representation by ward,” the concerned citizen writes. “This form of archaic governance, discrimination, and Gerrymandering, which all of these practices centralizes power in the hands of a few elected officials disconnected from the populace and the neighborhoods in which they live.”

Supporters of at-large voting contend that at-large voting allows every voters to have a say in who represents the city and makes each councilmembers responsive to the needs of the whole city and not just their ward.

Marion city council will meet today at 7 p.m. at city hall.

By Mark Randall