ACLU Voting Rights Project Cert Petition in Cottier v. City of Martin

Here. Lower court materials here.

Questions presented:

1. Was the district court’s original finding that the plaintiffs had not established one of the threshold factors for a finding of vote dilution under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1973, properly before the Eighth Circuit upon review of a superseding final judgment in the plaintiffs’ favor after remand from a prior panel?
2. Is statistical evidence necessary to prove legally significant racially polarized voting under Thornburg v. Gingles, 478 U.S. 30 (1986)?
3. Do minority voters have an equal opportunityto elect aldermen and alderwomen of their choice when the evidence shows that minority voters have had some success in electing their preferred candidates—but only in nonmunicipal elections, when “minority” voters constitute a majority of the electorate, or when their preferred candidates are white?