WRIGHT v. SUMTER COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS AND REGISTRATION

Filing 14

ORDER denying Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction as to March 18, 2014 election. Ordered by U.S. District Judge W LOUIS SANDS on 3/17/2014. (mpw)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
ALBANY DIVISION
MATHIS KEARSE WRIGHT JR.,

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Plaintiff,
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v.
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SUMTER COUNTY BOARD OF
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ELECTIONS AND REGISTRATION,
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Defendant.
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____________________________________:

CASE NO.: 1:14-cv-42 (WLS)

ORDER
The Parties in the above-captioned case appeared on Friday, March 14, 2014, on
Plaintiff pro se Mathis Kearse Wright Jr.’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction. In his
motion, Wright seeks to enjoin the March 18 and May 20, 2014 elections for the Sumter
County Board of Education, on the ground that a redistricting and other allegedly
discriminatory practices violated § 2 of the Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1973. During
the hearing, the Court denied Wright’s preliminary injunction as to the March 18
election. This Order memorializes that ruling.
Wright primarily claims that the redistricting of the Sumter County Board of
Education from a nine-member board to a seven-member board (five districts, with two
at-large seats) dilutes the black vote by “packing” black voters into two districts. Wright
therefore requests that the Court require Sumter County to retain its current nine
districts. Even though the March 18 election concerns those nine districts, Wright also
seeks to enjoin that election because an employer allegedly prevented one of the
incumbent black boardmembers, Carolyn Whitehead, from qualifying for office without
permission.
The Court raised questions during the hearing about whether Wright had
standing to assert such a claim on Whitehead’s behalf. Based on these questions, Wright

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withdrew his request for a preliminary injunction as to the March 18 election. He did
not present evidence on that claim. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Court denied
the preliminary injunction as to the March 18 election because Wright had failed to
carry his burden of showing a substantial likelihood of success on the merits and
because of the imminence of the election, for which campaigning and early voting had
already begun.
Therefore, for the reasons stated at the hearing, and for reasons to be stated in the
Court’s Order on the May 20 election to follow, Wright’s motion for a preliminary
injunction as to the March 18 election is DENIED.
SO ORDERED, 17th

day of March, 2014.
/s/ W. Louis Sands
W. LOUIS SANDS, JUDGE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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