Four plaintiffs and two community groups claim it's impossible for a Latino to get elected to Islip's Town Board under the municipality's current voting system.
"The Latino community in Islip is vibrant and diverse," the plaintiffs' attorney, Frederick Brewington, told U.S. District Judge Gary Brown during opening arguments. Latinos make up 31 percent of Islip's 330,000 residents. Despite different national origins, Brewington called them a "cohesive, close-knit community" concentrated in the northwest region of town - mainly Brentwood, Central Islip and North Bayshore. But he said efforts to get a candidate of their own elected are thwarted by Islip's at-large voting system, in which voters throughout the town choose the supervisor and board members.
"Right now the vote of Latinos in Islip means nothing."
The plaintiffs want the judge to create four geographic districts for each of the town board members, so Latinos can finally elect a candidate of their choice.
But an attorney for the town, Lou Fisher, said Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act "does not guarantee minority voters electoral success, it guarantees them a level playing field."
He argued that Latinos aren't getting elected because they consistently vote for Democrats in a town where most residents vote Republican.
