Common Cause Indiana v. City of Anderson Common Council
Case Summary
LWV Indiana, Common Cause Indiana, the Anderson-Madison County NAACP, and individual voters in Anderson, Indiana, District 3, filed a lawsuit in federal court, asserting the city council districts were malapportioned with several districts being overpopulated, in violation of federal and state law requiring them to be equally populated. The plaintiffs argued this disparity violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Anderson, Indiana, is governed by a Common Council. Three of its members are elected at-large and six are elected from single-member districts. Under Indiana law, the council was required to redraw the six districts by Dec. 31, 2022, to reflect population changes after the 2020 census. The council failed to meet the deadline, voting 6 – 3 on Dec. 11, 2022, not to redistrict. Subsequently, primary elections were held on May 7, 2023, under malapportioned districts, with general elections scheduled for Nov. 7, 2023.
According to the 2020 Census, each district would have a population of 9,130 if they were equally populated. Both Indiana state law and federal law require that single member districts in legislative bodies like the Anderson Common Council must be equally populated with minor deviations allowed. Here, the Common Council districts had widely uneven populations.
District 1: 9,627
District 2: 9,151
District 3: 11,644
District 4: 7,490
District 5: 8,494
District 6: 8,364
The League of Women Votes of Indiana, Common Cause Indiana, the Anderson-Madison County NAACP, and residents of District 3 filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana on Jun. 13, 2023, asserting the districts’ unequal population violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, by diluting the votes of citizens in the overpopulated districts.
The League is represented in this matter by Bowman & Vlink, LLC.
LWV Timeline
LWV of Indiana files lawsuit
LWV of Indiana and co-plaintiffs file a federal lawsuit, asserting the Anderson city council’s failure to redraw its unevenly populated districts diluted citizens’ votes in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
Plaintiffs file motion for preliminary injunction
Plaintiffs move for a preliminary injunction, asking the court to declare the current city council districts unconstitutional and forbid their use after the November 7, 2023, municipal elections. The plaintiffs also request the court enjoin any city council elections from being held after that date until constitutionally compliant districts with substantially equal populations replaced the current districts.
Court denies city's motion to dismiss
The court denies the city's motion to dismiss, ruling that (1) its assertion of laches is premature; (2) candidates for council seats are not required parties; and (3) the plaintiffs had plausibly pled a malapportionment claim under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Court grants partial summary judgment
The court grants partial summary judgment, ruling the council districts are malapportioned in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution.