Plaintiff Files Opposition in Landmark Voting Rights Act Challenge Against Keller ISD

Dallas, Texas…June 13, 2025 – Brewer Storefront filed a federal court brief (“Vallejo’s opposition”) on behalf of Claudio Vallejo – a Hispanic parent in Keller ISD – in opposition to the district’s attempt to dodge a landmark voting rights case. 

Vallejo’s case seeks to overhaul the district’s at-large voting system, asserting it violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (“VRA”) and the U.S. Constitution. The Storefront is the community service legal affiliate of Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors. 

Filed in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division, Vallejo’s brief contends that the current election system dilutes the votes of Hispanic and other minority voters, preventing them from electing candidates who represent their interests. Despite the fact that Hispanic students constitute nearly a quarter of the district’s enrollment, not a single Hispanic candidate has been elected to the Board in over two decades. 

At the heart of Vallejo’s opposition is a complaint that argues that the so-called “Gingles factors” established by the 1986 U.S. Supreme Court Case Thornburg v. Gingles as a standard to prove a VRA violation are outdated, particularly the requirement that a minority group be sufficiently large and geographically compact to constitute a majority in a single-member district. 

Vallejo argues that the geographic “compactness” requirement for majority-minority districts should not apply outside redistricting cases – particularly when the remedy sought is not the creation of new district lines, but implementation of a cumulative voting system. 

This alternative voting system, expressly permitted under the Texas Education Code since 1995, would allow minority voters to elect candidates of their choice by pooling support across geographic lines. Under the cumulative system, a voter may cast the number of votes equal to the number of seats up in an election for one or more candidate in any combination. The candidates receiving the highest number of votes for the open positions are elected. 

The filing also outlines predictable educational disparities among student subgroups: only 51% of Hispanic students in KISD met grade-level benchmarks on state exams, compared to 69% of white students. Vallejo’s filing notes the social science data that a lack of representation on the school board contributes to an ongoing failure to address the needs of minority students. 

“This case seeks to ensure that the voices of Hispanic voters are heard and accounted for in school board elections,” says William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer Storefront and counsel to Mr. Vallejo. “Cumulative voting offers a constitutionally sound, locally empowered solution that aligns with the values for which the Voting Rights Act was adopted.” 

Vallejo’s opposition challenges the district’s reliance on outdated precedent. 

The complaint asserts that Gingles should only apply to redistricting cases, and notes that the KISD case is not a redistricting case. 

“Gingles should only apply to redistricting cases,” the filing contends. “This is not a redistricting case…cumulative voting would allow minority viewpoints to have a voice in KISD.”

Cumulative voting will give underrepresented groups in KISD greater power to elect candidates aligned with their interests. Such voting systems have been adopted by other local school districts, including Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD. 

The legal action includes claims under the 14th and 15th Amendments, alleging that the Board’s continued use of a discriminatory voting system reflects intentional racial bias. Vallejo points to recent actions by the Board – including a now-abandoned plan to split the district along socioeconomic and racial lines – as further evidence of discriminatory intent. 

Plaintiff asks the Court to deny the district’s motion to dismiss, allow the case to proceed, and grant appropriate injunctive and declaratory relief to reform the election system. 

In requesting that the Court deny Defendants’ motion to dismiss, Vallejo argues that this case represents a natural evolution of civil rights litigation – one aimed at adapting the Voting Rights Act to a changing America. 

“Today’s innovative argument is tomorrow’s binding precedent,” the filing concludes. 

About Brewer Storefront 

Brewer Storefront is the community-service legal affiliate of the national litigation firm of Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors with offices in Dallas and New York. Founded in 1995, the Brewer Storefront tackles local and national issues, providing legal assistance to a wide range of individuals, business and community entities in need. 

The Storefront has successfully challenged violations of the Voting Rights Act on behalf of other communities of interest in previous actions. Notably, in 2015, the Storefront settled a lawsuit brought against the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District on behalf of Hispanic voters and a cumulative voting system was established as a result. There are currently two Hispanic trustees on the school district’s board. 

The Storefront also successfully resolved Voting Rights Act cases with the Lewisville Independent School District in 2023, Richardson Independent School District in January 2019, and the Grand Prairie Independent School District in 2014. All districts now utilize remodeled voting systems. The Storefront also secured trial victories in Voting Rights Act cases against the Irving Independent School District in 2014, the City of Farmers Branch in 2012, and the City of Irving in 2009. Those lawsuits paved the way for the formation of new voting systems and the election of minority candidates.