Chicago shareholder David L. LaPorte obtained a victory on behalf of the City of Aurora in a case alleging that the redistricting of the City's aldermanic wards diluted a certain ethnicity’s voting strength in violation of the Voting Rights Act. Plaintiffs sought mandatory injunctive relief requiring the City of Aurora to redistrict its aldermanic wards so that at least one additional ward with a population of at least 70 percent of the ethnicity was created.
The district court granted the City's motion for summary judgment, ruling that the ward map, as created, provided the ethnic group with the electoral opportunities roughly proportionate to their voting strength, and plaintiffs failed to put forth sufficient evidence establishing that additional majority wards necessary for fair electoral opportunities. The Seventh Circuit, in a published opinion, held that plaintiffs demonstrated little more than an additional ward for the subject ethnic group was possible, which does not by itself establish vote dilution, "and did not build the sort of factual record that creates a genuine issue for trial."
