WICOMICO CO., MD - Multiple civil rights groups are calling on Wicomico County to change the voting systems for County Council and the School Board, saying the current systems are racially discriminatory and unlawful.
On Thursday, The Wicomico County Branch of the NAACP, the Caucus of African American Leaders, and the Watchmen with One Voice Ministerial Alliance, joined with voters to announce a lawsuit against the County to implement the changes. In their suit, the groups allege that the election system denies black neighbors their right to vote free from discrimination as well as their right to fair representation.
The current election systems for Council and School Board do not comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the civil rights groups claim.
The suit, filed in federal district court in Baltimore, says Wicomico County has a long history of discrimination, segregation, and overt racial polarization, with inequality seen in employment, education, housing, and government services.
“Against the backdrop of this history and its continuing legacy,” the suit reads, “the Defendants’ election practices and structure work in concert with patterns of racial polarization in voting to empower Wicomico’s white majority to override and dilute the influence of Black voters, suppress Black candidacies, and deny Black residents equal opportunity to elect their chosen representatives.”
The suit also cites the racial disparity in the current government bodies, saying all but one of the County Council and School Board seats are occupied by white people, despite a 30% black population in Wicomico and over 63% of Wicomico students being Black, Indigenous, People of Color.
Wicomico adopted a hybrid election structure in 1990 following civil rights complaints by the U.S. Department of Justice. According to the civil rights groups, no black or BIPOC candidate has ever won an at-large seat or district seat save for one single district since the inception of that election system.
“In this way, Wicomico’s 5-2 system marginalizes the Black electorate and enhances the white electorate to ensure that six officials for each body are elected by a white majority of voters, and only one by a Black majority,” a joint statement from the groups reads. “Through this unlawful, partial at-large system, the County is able to perpetuate a long legacy of discrimination.”
The lawsuit asks the court to declare Wicomico County’s current election system unlawful and require the County and School Board to implement a fair system compliant with the Voting Rights Act.
The ACLU of Maryland along with several other attorneys are representing the Plaintiffs of the suit.
