Brewer Storefront filed suit in federal court on February 12, 2019, on behalf of plaintiff Frank Vaughan, against the Lewisville Independent School District (LISD) and its trustees, alleging that the school district’s election system violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, the lawsuit claims that the school district’s at-large voting system denies Hispanic, African American and Asian voters a fair opportunity to elect school board representatives of their choice. The Storefront is the community service legal affiliate of Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors.
The lawsuit alleges that, based on the district’s demographics, one would expect that a Latino, African American or Asian school board member could be elected. Yet, all seven school board members are white.
“Our client believes the voting scheme utilized by Lewisville ISD unfairly denies people of color a fair opportunity to elect candidates of their choosing – trustees that represent their interests, schools and communities,” says William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer Storefront and lead counsel for plaintiff Frank Vaughan. “We believe the school board should adopt a more representative electoral process to serve this multiracial and ethnically diverse school district.”
The Dallas Morning News published an article about the lawsuit on the front page of the newspaper’s print edition on February 13. Other local media outlets reported on the lawsuit, including Community Impact and The Cross Timbers Gazette.
Lawsuit Claims Lewisville ISD Electoral System Violates Voting Rights Act of 1965
