Maxine B. Cousin v. Don Sundquist State Election Commission Brook Thompson Hamilton County Election Commission Carolyn Jackson

OPINION

WELLFORD, Circuit Judge.

The defendants appeal the district court’s finding that the conduct of judicial elections for positions on the Circuit Court, Criminal Court, Chancery Court, and General Sessions Court in Hamilton County, Tennessee, violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. See 42 U.S.C. § 1973(b) (1994) (hereinafter “Section 2”). Specifically, the district court held that the black plaintiffs made out a case of vote dilution under the three part “results” test enunciated by the Supreme Court in Thornburg v. Gingles, 478 U.S. 30, 50-51, 106 S.Ct. 2752, 92 L.Ed.2d 25 (1986),…