The MBK Voting Rights Team, with its partners UCLA Voting Rights Project, Winebrake & Santillo, LLC, and Frederick P. Rooney, filed a lawsuit today on behalf of Plaintiffs Aleida Aquino and Brendalis Lopez. The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, seeks to overturn an at-large election system for the Hazleton Area School Board (HASB) that dilutes the voting strength of the district’s sizable Latino population. The complaint, Aquino and Lopez v Hazleton Area School District, asserting that the at-large system violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, comes amidst growing concern about the unavailability of Spanish-language services and the unfair treatment of minority students in HASD.

Myers Brier & Kelly is deeply honored to represent these courageous women in enforcing the protections of the Voting Rights Act and Fourteenth Amendment. Myers Brier & Kelly LLP has been at the forefront of voting rights litigation in the Commonwealth, having successfully represented Secretaries of State, Governors, and the Democratic Caucus of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The firm regularly advises candidates, elected officials and appointed elections administrators in the Commonwealth on matters related to voting rights and election law.