Alabama’s first black mayor asks court to allow black residents to vote in November after decades of elections blocked by white officials

A outstanding civil rights law firm has joined in a request for immediate motion against Newbern, Alabama, as part of a federal lawsuit filed in 2023 that alleges that white officials in the bulk Black city unfairly stayed in power by manipulating the voting process .

The lawsuit, filed in March 2023 by Alabama-based Quinn, Connor, Weaver, Davis and Rouco LLP, which was later joined by the Legal Defense Fund with an updated grievance in September 2023, alleged that white officials systematically in multiple cases they were taking control of the democratic process. decades, which allowed them to maintain full control over a city where 80 percent of the inhabitants are black.

The city has a population of about 200, of whom only 20 percent are white, but white people have at all times managed to retain most, if not all, of the seats on the town council.

Braxton et al.’s lawsuit v. Stokes et al. was filed on behalf of Newbern’s first Black Mayor and now lead plaintiff, Patrick Braxton, who took office nearly 4 years ago in absentia because he was the just one to file to run for mayor.

His predecessor, Haywood “Woody” Stokes III, who was named as a defendant in the lawsuit, and his handpicked, all-white city council, didn’t challenge Braxton on the time, breaking with long-held tradition.

However, when Braxton won the vote, white officials organized a rigged special election to prevent the brand new mayor from appointing a predominantly Black city council, and took other covert actions that prevented voters from selecting their preferred council members.

Last week, Braxton asked the court for a preliminary injunction, urging the court to force white officials to hold elections in November in order that Black Newberns can exercise their constitutional right to vote before a final ruling on the case is issued.

The order would immediately allow black residents to vote in a general election for the first time in years while stopping further racial discrimination until a final court ruling is issued.

The lawsuit alleges that White City officials illegally rescinded Braxton’s 2020 nomination and quickly re-elected Stokes as mayor, leading to an ungainly arrangement in which Braxton and Stokes have been doing dual roles for nearly 4 years.

Before Braxton, Newbern’s previous mayors were either appointed or ran unopposed, while some of these public officials held office for greater than a decade at a time, consolidating power over generations of white residents.

The lawsuit alleged that black residents of Newbern were completely unaware that they’d the appropriate to vote in the mayoral election and still didn’t know who the actual elected mayor was.

“By failing to organize or notify residents of municipal elections, Newbern officials continually prevent residents from electing representatives and holding office. It is imperative that the courts step in to ensure that Newberns can fairly and fully exercise their fundamental right to vote.” said the statement from Richard Rouco, one of the plaintiff’s co-counsel.

Racial tensions in the town made national headlines last summer as Braxton continued to grapple with overt racism and his tenure was plagued by every day harassment and intimidation that left him unable to effectively govern the town.

Last 12 months, Braxton expressed frustration with the situation, saying his white colleagues were “so stuck in their ways and they don’t want anything different for the city. They just want it to stay the same,” Braxton said: According to guardian. “I hope they break and just move on and give everything back to me. If not, we will just go to court.”

Braxton said the racism he encountered was just the tip of the iceberg, as black voters in Newbern have faced a lifetime of discrimination each time and wherever they tried to vote or run for office in the agricultural town, which takes hours and hours. .. half west of Montgomery.

“As a lifelong Newbern resident, I strongly believe in the importance of exercising my right to vote,” he said. “For decades, officials in my city have excluded me and other voters from voting and speaking out about what is happening here.”

Braxton emphasized that voter participation will probably be crucial to transforming the community and that Black people deserve a voice in determining the town’s future:

“Voting is not a privilege; it is a responsibility to help shape the direction and priorities of our community. We want to make sure our voices are heard and our votes are counted. We are asking the courts to enforce Newbern’s elections this November so we can vote and actively participate in the democratic process.”

The plaintiffs allege that by 2020, Newbern had not held a mayoral election in decades.

The Legal Defense Fund was founded by Thurgood Marshall in 1940 and was originally part of the NAACP before becoming an independent entity. The organization was involved in many landmark civil rights cases, including Brown v. Board of Education, which led to the desegregation of public schools in the United States.

Alabama’s first black mayor asks court to allow black residents to vote in November after decades of elections blocked by white officials