Letter from Justice Department to Calera, Alabama, 2008
Background: In 2008, the federal Department of Justice reviewed proposed changes to voting districts in Calera, Alabama. The department’s review was required under Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which imposed a “preclearance” review for all counties determined to have a history of racial discrimination in voting. Calera had enlarged the city limits through annexing new land and then redrew its voting districts. The changes eliminated the one district in which African American voters made up the majority. In this excerpt, Grace Chung Becker, the acting assistant attorney general of the Department of Justice ruled on proposed changes to electoral districts in Calera. Following the agency’s rejection of the changes, officials in Shelby County, where Calera was located, sued Eric Holder, the U.S. Attorney General, contesting the Voting Rights Act’s preclearance process.
According to the 2000 Census, the City of Calera has a total population of 3,158 persons, of whom 628 (19.9%) were identified as African American. We understand that the city has experienced sizeable growth since that time, due primarily to residential development on the 177 annexations now under review. The city has provided estimates that its population is at 10,806 persons as of December 2006, of whom 20 percent are identified as African American.
The submitted annexations and redistricting plan would eliminate the city's sole majority African-American district. This district and the single-member district method of election were adopted pursuant to a consent decree approved 18 years ago. . . . Under this arrangement, the district has elected an African-American candidate for the last 20 years.
We have carefully considered the information you have provided, as well as information and materials from other interested parties. . . . As discussed further below, I cannot conclude that the city has sustained its burden of showing that the proposed change does not have a discriminatory purpose or effect. Therefore, based on the information available to us, I object to the voting changes on behalf of the Attorney General.
The United States Supreme Court has held that where annexations decrease minority voting strength, the reasons for the annexations must be objectively verifiable and legitimate, and the post-annexation election system must fairly reflect the post-annexation voting strength of the minority community in the expanded city.
For 13 years, the city has failed to submit their adopted annexations for Section 5 review. Our Department has not received an annexation submission from the city since 1993, and the city admits that it is at fault for not submitting the 177 annexations. . . .
The estimate of racial composition in the city has no basis. The city has claimed that the population is 20 percent black throughout the newly annexed areas, but no attempt has been made to determine their composition. Simply because the black population in the city was 20 percent of the population in 2000, does not mean that would be the percentage of black population in the newly annexed areas. In fact, both city-wide voter registration and school data in recent years appear to show growth in the black population. In failing to provide adequate numbers to evaluate the annexations and concomitant redistricting plan, the city fails to meet its burden of proof.
The City of Calera also appears to have failed to consider how the African American population would be fairly reflected in the post-annexation election system moving forward. . . . According to the geographer hired by the city, he was willing to provide information for the city to consider alternative methods of election that would have provided black voters a better opportunity to elect a candidate of choice, but the city council expressed no interest in these alternatives.
Source: “Voting Determination Letter,” from Grace Chung Becker to Dan Head, https://www.justice.gov/crt/voting-determination-letter-48.