Dallas Morning News: Closing Arguments Heard in Irving Voting Rights Trial

February 21, 2009 – The Dallas Morning News reports that closing arguments were held in a trial over whether the Irving City Council’s at-large voting system suppressed the votes of Hispanics and violated the Voting Rights Act. 

U.S. District Judge Jorge Solis said he hoped to decide within a month whether to require the council to create single-member districts. 

Brewer Storefront represented plaintiff Manuel Benavidez, who filed the federal lawsuit claiming that the city’s at-large voting system blocked the votes of Hispanics.  

David Ely, an expert for Benavidez, testified that he found several possible districts where eligible voters were mainly Hispanic.