School board in Ohio agrees to change in elections

EUCLID, Ohio (AP) -- The Justice Department said Tuesday it has reached an agreement with a school board in northeast Ohio to let a federal court determine how to structure elections to give blacks a greater chance of being elected.

The agreement is the second part of the Justice Department's effort to enfranchise blacks in Euclid, a Cleveland suburb.

"We are pleased that the school board's willingness to concede liability in this case spares the Department and the citizens of Euclid the necessity of protracted, costly and potentially divisive litigation," Grace Chung Becker, acting assistant attorney general for civil rights, said in a statement.

"This concession immediately places before the court the task of determining a fair remedial plan that provides African-American voters in Euclid the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice to the school board."

School board President Kay Van Ho referred a request for comment to the board's attorney, David Smith, who did not immediately return an after-hours call.

The Justice Department sued the city of Euclid in July 2006 to force the city to restructure its election process so black candidates could have a better chance at holding public office.

In August 2007, a federal district court judge ruled that the city's system of electing members to the City Council illegally diluted the black vote in violation of the Voting Rights Act.

Although the population of Euclid is about 30 percent black, no black person had been elected to any public office until March, when the number of wards was doubled to eight because of the lawsuit, and both candidates in one ward were black.