(Census data was unavailable for White Hall which has a black mayor, as it is unincorporated.)

Most municipal elections in Alabama are conducted on an at-large basis. Only four of the 428 cities and towns hold elections by district according to information supplied by the Alabama League of Municipalities.

The at-large election system has the same dilutive effect on election of municipal governing bodies as it does on county elections. Two-thirds of the blacks serving on municipal councils or commissions are in cities or towns with black majorities. Most (71%) serve in towns of less than 5,000 people. Only twelve of the elected black council members are serving in cities or towns with populations 25% or less black.

Table 7 in the Appendix shows Alabama municipalities which have black elected officials.

Black residents of cities and towns across Alabama are unable to elect blacks to at-large city councils and commissions The large majority (101) of the 152 municipalities with this election system and with populations at least 25 percent black have no black elected officials The table below lists towns of over 2,500 population, with at least onefourth the population black, which have no black council members.

See Table 8 in the Appendix for a complete listing of Alabama municipalities with at-large election systems and no black council members. Twenty-seven of these cities and towns have black majorities, as indicated in Table 9 of the Appendix.

As in county elections, single-member district elections facilitate the election of black candidates to the council. Each of the four cities which have this form has black elected officials.

This section clearly shows that the effect of at-large election structures in Alabama's counties and municipalities is to make it almost impossible for black persons to be elected to those offices. The section is not meant to argue

for proportional representation. It is merely the accepted academic technique for an initial step in examining the

effect of election structures! These results make a strong case for amending Section 2 of the Act to cover such structures. Regardless of the purpose of their adoption, the effect in Alabama is unquestionably discriminatory.

FOOTNOTES

SECTION IV

34

1

Staff telephone interview with Mary Lou McHugh, (Association of County Commissions of Alabama staff member) 5/21/81.

2 Choctaw, one black school board member, districted by
Johnson v. Board of Education of Choctaw County, No. 77-169-
P (S.D. Ala. March 24, 1978) and Mobile, two black school
board members, districted by Brown v. Moore, 428 F.Supp.
1123 (S. D. Ala. 1976), aff'd, 575 F.2d 298 (5th Cir. 1978),
vacated and remanded sub nom Williams v. Brown, 446 U.S. 236
(1980), elections held by districts pending decision on
remand Moore v. Brown,
101 S.Ct. 16 (1980).

3

4

U.S.

Staff interview with William V. Neville 5/28/81.

Staff telephone interview with Ruth Lockett, State Department of Education, Business Office 6/10/81.

5 Staff interview with Julie Sinclair, Librarian, Alabama League of Municipalities 5/4/81.

6 Richard E. Engstrom and Michael Mc Donald,

The Election of Blacks to City Councils: Clarifying the

Impact of Electoral Arrangements on Seats/Population Relationship American Political Science Review, June, 1981.

35

Conclusion

That the Voting Rights Act has made effective participation in the democratic process a reality for scores of formerly disenfranchised black Alabamians is clearly shown in this report. That serious obstacles continue to confront black voters is documented as well. The reported problems underscore the need for extension of Section 5 and the amendment of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in order that these barriers may finally be removed and all Alabamians may freely take part in this most basic of rights.