September 8, 2025 Story by: Editor
A federal judge has rejected the Houston County, Georgia Elections Board’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit claiming that the county’s at-large electoral system infringes on the voting rights of Black residents.
The lawsuit, filed by two local voters, challenges the current system under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, arguing that it dilutes Black voting strength by preventing the election of Black candidates to the Board of Commissioners.
Two Black voters joined the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit against the elections chair of Houston County, aiming to alter the county’s election system. The lawsuit, initially filed by the DOJ on January 16 against Houston County and its commissioners—Dan Perdue, Shane Gottwals, Gail Robinson, Tal Talton, and Mark Byrd.
The lawsuit contends that Houston County’s current election process “dilutes the voting strength of Black citizens,” thereby violating the Voting Rights Act. On January 25, county residents Courtney Driver and Mike Jones requested to participate in the case, and federal Judge Marc Treadwell granted their request.
The U.S. Department of Justice under President Donald Trump dropped the lawsuit against Houston County.
However, the court battle is not over after two Houston County residents joined the lawsuit earlier this month.
After Trump’s administration came into office, the President’s Department of Justice filed a petition to drop their case. The lawsuit was originally filed in the waning days of Joe Biden’s administration.
The suit argues that the county-wide system for county commission elections dilutes the power of Black voters and violated the U.S. Voting Rights Act of 1965. Despite around 31% of the county’s population being Black, the county has no Black county commissioners, the lawsuit said.
Background
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that it filed a lawsuit against Houston County, Georgia, challenging the county’s at-large election system for its board of commissioners. The lawsuit alleges that the current method infringes on Black voters’ rights under the Voting Rights Act.
According to the Justice Department, the at-large election method reduces Black citizens’ ability to participate fully in the political process and to elect candidates of their choice, thereby violating their rights.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, seeks a court order mandating a new election system for the county’s Board of Commissioners.
The lawsuit, which was filed as President Joe Biden’s term neared an end, was voluntarily dismissed by President Donald Trump’s Justice Department.
But two Houston County residents, Courtney and Mike Jones, filed into the case before the DOJ’s filing, hoping to keep the suit alive despite the U.S. Department of Justice’s decision to drop the case.
The lawsuit claims that the at-large system of voting for Houston County Commission dilutes the power of Black voters. In this system, all Houston County residents vote on commissioners, which Biden’s DOJ argued violated Section II of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Since Reconstruction in the 1860s, the lawsuit notes that there has only been one Black Houston County commissioner, despite 31 percent of the county being Black. There are no Black commissioners serving right now in Houston County.
Black residents account for over 31% of Houston County’s voting-age population, the department noted, emphasizing that the county has only elected one Black commissioner since the Civil War.
Houston County, with a population of 163,000, currently elects all five of its commission members through countywide elections.
As of 2023, the U.S. Census estimates Houston County’s population at 171,974. Approximately 105,000 residents are active registered voters, with around 55% identifying as white and nearly 30% as Black. The DOJ claims that white voters “turn out to vote at significantly higher rates than Black registered voters” in the county.
The voters are urging U.S. District Court Judge Marc Treadwell to force Houston County to move to geographic voting districts, which they argue would give the county’s Black population the chance to elect their own representatives.
Section II of the Voting Rights Act has forced the change from at large to geographic voting districts in the past. That section bans policies and procedures that discriminate on the basis of race or limit minorities access to representation.
While the county and county commissioners fought to have the case dismissed after the Trump Administration dropped their case — arguing that only the DOJ can sue to enforce the Voting Rights Act — the case appears to be moving ahead.
However, the voters agreed to drop Houston County and the county’s commissioners from the case. The county argued they don’t oversee voting in Houston County; the Houston County Board of Elections does.
Source: The Macon Telegraph
