ABSTRACT
This chapter examines problems of interpreting and implementing the law. In the District Court process, the executive director of the Legislative committee that had drawn the district lines had stated that the Justice Department's insistence on a 65 percent proportion of black voters was "the sole reason" that two assembly districts had divided the Hasidic community. The exercise by cities of their power to add neighboring unincorporated areas to their territory has obvious implications for minority voting power. By extending its boundaries to include white voters, but exclude minority voters, a city can adjust the racial or ethnic proportions of its electorate. The 1982 amendments to the Voting Rights Act seemed to modify the Beer retrogression test. The use of at-large electoral schemes purportedly deprives minorities of an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice.
