The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund filed a lawsuit this week on behalf of three plaintiffs against the City of Bellflower, California for violating their voting rights under the California Voting Rights Act of 2001.

The City of Bellflower uses an at-large method to elect its Council members, a method that critics say has denied Latino and African-American residents the ability to elect council members of their choice, leaving in place five white city council members for over a decade. The city's population is 76,000 with a Latino majority at 52 percent, 42 percent white and 14 percent African American, according to the 2010 census figures.

"We've tried to work with the City of Bellflower, putting them on notice of the violation, and they have not responded. We filed our claim in Los Angeles County Superior Court to demand that they change their system of voting from the at-large method to a district voting system, Matthew Barragan, staff attorney at MALDEF. "What at-large means is any voter can vote for any council member, candidates are not required to live in a particular zone, and we argue that has led to a vote dilution and prevented Latinos and African Americans from electing candidates of their choice or influencing the outcome of City Council elections."

This has led to is voter disenfranchisement, despite Latinos making up 37 percent of the citizen voting age population. Latinos and African Americans unable to get their concerns heard or addressed and they are not included in budget discussions for local programs.

Bellflower has been on notice for years about its violation of the California Voting Rights Act, with one of the plaintiffs, citizens, and voters of Bellflower writing and petitioning for the city to change to a by-district election system.

The plaintiffs in the case are all registered voters in the City of Bellflower — Luis Melliz and Bertha Velenzuela are Latinos, and Gloria Willingham-Toure is African-American. They claim the City of Bellflower is violating the California Voting Rights Act. There are no Latino or African American members of the council, and there have been none for over a decade.

The lawsuit claims the elections conducted within Bellflower are racially polarized voting, which occurs when members of a protected class, as defined by the California election code, vote for candidates and electoral choices that are different from the rest of the electorate.

Latin Post contacted the City of Bellflower for comment on the lawsuit but there was no immediate response.

Latino citizens have sued in other jurisdictions that have at-large systems to include Cerritos Community College, Compton Escondido, Madera, Modesto, and San Mateo and forced to change to by-district voting. MALDEF has also given notice to jurisdictions in Downey, Fresno, Merced City, Visalia, among others, which have abandoned at-large systems and adopted district election plans.