SCRANTON - Two Hispanic voters are suing the Hazleton Area School District because they say it unfairly tilts the field against Hispanic candidates.
Aleida Aquino and Brendalis Lopez, two registered Hispanic voters residing in the Hazleton Area School District (HASD), filed a lawsuit Feb. 5 in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania against the district.
The plaintiffs claim that the at-large system for electing directors of the Hazleton Area School Board (HASB) diminishes the voting strength of Hispanics, violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The plaintiffs are seeking a declaratory judgment that the current at-large system for electing HASB directors violates these laws. They also request a permanent injunction prohibiting HASD from conducting future elections for the HASB using this method and requiring implementation of an alternate election system that complies with these laws.
According to data from the U.S. American Community Survey, as of 2022, 39.6% of HASD's population is Hispanic. This demographic has grown significantly over the past two decades from 17.9% in 2010 and 24.2% in 2016.
Despite this growth, Hispanic candidates have been unsuccessful in primary and general elections for the HASB, the suit says. The at-large election system was instituted in 1989 and prior to that, voting was split into nine single-member districts, with directors elected by region.
Daniel Brier of Myers, Brier & Kelly is one of many local attorneys representing the plaintiffs, with lawyers from the UCLA Voting Rights Project also working on the case.