The U.S. Department of Justice wants a judge to find that a Pennsylvania city’s method of electing council members citywide rather than in districts has illegally diluted the political power of its growing Latino population, arguing in a lawsuit that Hazleton violates the federal Voting Rights Act .
The complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in Scranton says the “blanket” system “results in Latino citizens not having an equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect candidates of their choice.”
The Justice Department, under outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden, asked the court to order the city, the five-member City Council and Republican Mayor Jeff Cusat to develop a fresh system.
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Cusat and City Council President Jim Perry released a statement Wednesday saying the election method does provide Latinos with an equal opportunity to participate.
“The current universal system in the city of Hazleton provides equal voting rights to all citizens regardless of race and gender,” they said.
Hazleton’s growing pool of Latino voters has not proven to be enough to elect one of its own, Perry said in a telephone interview Wednesday, noting that Latinos serve on city boards and officials.
“They run, but they don’t make it,” said Perry, a Republican. “So in my opinion you just have to vote.”
“The Latino population is a growing and important population” in Hazleton, U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam said in a news release. “These citizens should have the opportunity to elect candidates who represent their interests.”
The lawsuit says Hazleton’s 30,000 residents are about two-thirds Latino, one-third non-Hispanic white and less than 2% non-Hispanic black. The voting-age population of 17,000 is approximately 53% non-Hispanic white, approximately 43% Hispanic, and nearly 4% non-Hispanic black.
“The Latino community in Hazleton, including Spanish-speaking people with limited English proficiency, continues to suffer the effects of discrimination in education, employment, housing and policing,” the Justice Department argued.
The lawsuit says no Latino candidate has ever been elected to the Hazleton City Council or appointed to fill a vacancy on the council. It alleges that council elections are characterized by “racially polarized voting patterns, with Latino candidates having difficulty raising funds, gaining endorsements and being invited to panel discussions and other campaign events.”
State Rep. Manny Guzman, a Reading Democrat and vice chairman of the Pennsylvania Latino Legislative Caucus, said he believes the lawsuit will improve the political power of Hazleton’s Latino residents.
“There is something going on there in the mechanics of local government that is clearly preventing Latinos from gaining their rightful place at these tables and in these seats,” Guzman said.
Separate lawsuit filed a year ago by two Latino parents and now pending before the same judge, U.S. District Judge Karoline Mehalchick, alleges that the Hazleton Area School Board’s at-large voting system also excluded Latino voters in violation of the voting rules of the Bill of Rights Act. .
In November, the school district issued a response saying it had not violated federal law and “has not denied or abridged anyone’s right to vote on the basis of race or color.”
