United States District Court Chief District Judge Sidney Fitzwater ruled this week that the Irving school district's at-large trustee elections system does not violate the Voting Rights Act.
Irving resident Manuel Benavidez sued the Irving Independent School District mainly because he felt the voting system denied proper representation to Irving's hispanic voters.
Although Benavidez was previously successful in his case against the City of Irving, Judge Fitzwater ruled that the 2000 census showed that 60% of hispanic adults living in the district's territory were not citizens. He noted that hispanic voters accounted only 17% of the eligible voters, making it impossible to draw up a a district with a majority of those voters.
In response to the ruling, the Irving ISD Board of Trustees and administration expressed satisfaction with the result of the case. The IISD will continue to elect trustees using the at-large system. The next IISD trustee election will be Saturday, May 8, 2010.
