
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 establishes protections for geographically cohesive minority communities and “communities of interest.” In short, Section 2 of the law prohibits “unusually large electoral districts” (such as at-large districts), where the votes of a minority can be subsumed by the votes of the majority. The VRA thus requires, where possible, the creation of at least one majority-minority voting district. Given Columbus demographics and living patterns, the group that the Voting Rights Act would protect in Columbus is African American/Black (the other demographic group with sufficient numbers to form a cohesive voting block is Hispanic, but the geographic dispersal of Hispanics across the metropolis makes creation of a majority Hispanic district impossible). The Columbus Fair Elections Plan establishes two majority-Black districts: Districts 2 and 3. See the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s letters to Columbus expressing concern over our at-large elections being possible violations of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
District | 2010 Population | Pct. Black | Sq.Mi. |
1 | 86,587 | 30% | 21.6 |
2 | 85,939 | 60% | 26.7 |
3 | 87,235 | 63% | 20.2 |
4 | 87,663 | 40% | 28.1 |
5 | 88,309 | 20% | 39.4 |
6 | 86,074 | 16% | 25.2 |
7 | 87,375 | 6% | 26.8 |
8 | 89,983 | 11% | 21.9 |
9 | 88,494 | 6% | 13.9 |