In Pasadena, Texas, a federal judge ruled that the city promoted and implemented a plan to lessen the Latino power at the election polls.  The 113-page ruling done by U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal ordered city officials to revert to an eight-member City Council voting plan used before 2014.

The Judge ruled that voters living in unfavorable areas did not have the same right to vote mathematically which made their vote diluted. “Their right to vote is simply not the same right to vote as that of those living in a favored part of the jurisdiction. In Pasadena, Texas, Latino voters under the current map and plan do not have the same right to vote as their Anglo neighbors.”

Rosenthal also said she will supervise the 2017 municipal elections in May and watch for any situations where Latino voting rights might be threatened.  The judge also ordered Pasadena to submit any future changes in its voting plan to the U.S. Justice Department for civil rights pre-clearance.

Just a month after the Supreme Court ruled in Shelby County v. Holder, which struck down a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that establishes a formula to identify states that may require extra scrutiny by the Justice Department regarding voting procedures, Pasadena Mayor Johnny Isbell proposed changing the council’s structure to six single-member seats and two at-large seats.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed a lawsuit under the Voting Rights Act. During the trial that occurred in late 2016, the plaintiffs argued that Isbell forced a ballot measure through the city’s council, over the objections of its Latino-backed members. Voters approved the measure, in an election that was split on racial lines.

The mayor was also accused of using the city funds and resources to mobilize white voters on Pasadena’s south side to support the ballot measure. What resulted is that in 2015 Latinos lost a council seat by a handful of votes that they were favored to win.

Attorneys for the city made a countersuit saying the new districts preserved Latinos’ strength.  They argued that the four seats held by Latinos on city council did not change from the old to the new system and Latino voting strength is only expected to increase in the coming years along with the city’s Latino population.