A school district that includes students from Ferguson, Mo., will continue its long-held method of electing board members at large in April, despite a lawsuit claiming the process is racially biased.
The lawsuit that the American Civil Liberties Union filed in 2014 on behalf of the Missouri NAACP seeks a process for the Ferguson-Florissant district known as cumulative voting. It would allow people to vote multiple times for a single candidate, depending on how many seats are up for grabs.
U.S. District Judge Rodney Sippel ruled in favor of the NAACP. But he decided in December to allow the district to hold off on cumulative voting while it appealed. A three-judge appellate panel this month refused to overturn that decision.
The suit alleges that the district’s practice of selecting board members at large has made it more difficult for black candidates to win.
