Fayette County, Georgia

===Voting rights suit and settlement===
Until 2013, the county was divided into three "county commission districts." Three of the members of the board of commissioners were required to live inside one of the designated districts. The remaining two commissioners could live anywhere in the county. All members of the county commission were elected "at-large," which meant that each candidate had to attract the majority of votes across the county in order to win.<ref name="star">[http://atlantablackstar.com/2013/05/22/fayette-county-at-large-election-process-violates-voting-rights-act/ ABS Staff, "Fayette County at-large election process violates the Voting Rights Act"], ''Atlanta Black Star,'' 22 May 2013; accessed 11 April 2015</ref> Since 1982, more than 100 cases of such at-large voting systems in Georgia have been replaced by single-member districts.<ref name="newlaw"/>

The five members of the school board were also elected at-large. In the early 21st century, Fayette County was one of only 20 school boards among 180 in the state of Georgia to maintain at-large voting to elect members of these boards.<ref name="star"/> The practical effect was the exclusion of African Americans from these positions. The county has been majority-white and majority-Republican since the late 20th century. Neither Republican nor Democratic African-American candidates had any electoral success.

In 2011 the NAACP and several African-American county residents filed suit against the county and the board for the at-large voting system. In May 2013, the federal district court ordered the county and school board to change their systems of [[at-large]] voting, finding that it violated the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]] by diluting the voting power of the minority.<ref name="joyner2">[http://www.myajc.com/news/local-govt--politics/fayette-county-voting-rights-timeline/bgfklyPlwTLMQj2QwHrkON/ Tammy Joyner, "Fayette County Voting Rights Timeline"], ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution,'' 13 January 2016; accessed 13 December 2016</ref> African Americans make up 20% of the county population but were unable to elect candidates of their choice, as every commission and school board seat required a majority of county voters. The county has a majority-white, majority-Republican population.<ref name="star"/>

Under the federal ruling, five districts were established so that members of both the school board and county commission are elected from [[single-member district]]s. This broadened representation on the boards.<ref name="star"/><ref name="joyner"/> Voters of each district elect a commissioner living within its boundaries.

In 2014, Democrat Pota E. Coston was elected as the first black county commissioner in the 194-year history of the county.<ref name="poston"/> Leonard Presberg was first appointed and then elected in his own right as the first Jewish member of the school board.<ref name="poston">[http://thecitizen.com/government-county-politics/fayette-chooses-%E2%80%98discriminatory%E2%80%99-large-voting-replace-coston-democrats "Fayette chooses ‘discriminatory’ at-large voting to replace Coston, Democrats charge"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221035441/http://thecitizen.com/government-county-politics/fayette-chooses-%E2%80%98discriminatory%E2%80%99-large-voting-replace-coston-democrats |date=2016-12-21 }}, ''The Citizen,'' 13 July 2015; accessed 13 December 2016</ref>

The county and school board both appealed the federal district court ruling. In January 2015, the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta remanded the case to the district court for a bench trial by the federal district judge, ruling that Judge Timothy Batten Sr. had made a technical error in granting summary judgment in the case. It did not overturn his ruling to establish the single-member district system. The bench trial by Judge Batten would give the county an opportunity to present additional evidence to support its case.<ref name="bench trial">[http://thecitizen.com/articles/01-07-2015/fayette-county-wins-district-voting-appeal Cal Beverly, "Fayette County wins district voting appeal"], ''The Citizen,'' 7 January 2015; accessed 13 December 2016</ref>

After Coston died in office, the Fayette Board of Elections voted to use at-large voting in a special election to replace her. The NAACP returned to court as it opposed using the former system. Judge Batten ruled that the county had to use the single-member district system established by his earlier ruling. In September 2015 Democrat Charles Rousseau was elected from District 5 to succeed Coston, becoming the second African American elected to the county commission. In October 2015 the Fayette Chamber of Commerce and two prominent white leaders urged the county to settle the nearly five-year lawsuit and accept district voting. Judge Batten ordered the two sides into mediation and postponed the bench trial. In January 2016 the Fayette County School Board voted unanimously to settle the lawsuit and accept district voting for election of its members.<ref name="joyner2"/> The County Commission voted to settle by a 3–2 vote.

Together with the [[NAACP]] and black county plaintiffs, the county commission agreed in January 2016 to a system of electing four members from single-member districts and the fifth as an at-large member. A law implementing this change was signed by Governor [[Nathan Deal]] in March 2016.<ref name="newlaw">[http://www.ajc.com/news/local-govt--politics/new-law-creates-fayette-new-voting-system/2mIIGcPXuTloEWgrlRIKVN/ Tammy Joyner, "New law creates Fayette’s new voting system"], ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution,'' 4 March 2016; accessed 13 December 2016</ref>