An appeals court has ruled that a Missouri school district that includes students from Ferguson violated the federal Voting Rights Act in its method of electing board members.
A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday sided with a lower court judge who ordered the Ferguson-Florissant School District to adopt cumulative voting, which allows people to vote multiple times for a single candidate, depending on how many seats are up for election.
The case stems from a lawsuit filed on behalf of the NAACP and several black parents and residents who alleged racial bias in the district's current at-large election process, in which people vote only once for a candidate.
An attorney for the district says the board will decide soon whether to appeal.