Voketz v. City of Decatur

JULIE CARNES, Circuit Judge:

*904In 2010, Decatur residents passed a referendum to change Decatur's form of government, including how the city council was elected. City officials, however, decided not to implement the referendum because they believed doing so would violate § 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Gary Voketz filed this lawsuit in 2014 to compel Decatur to implement the referendum. The City and its current councilmembers again contend that they cannot do so because it would violate § 5.

After initially denying the defendants' motion for summary judgment based on § 5, the district court…