HELENA-WEST HELENA, Ark. (AP) — A panel of three federal judges has dismissed Secretary of State Mark Martin from part of the lawsuit that claims a redistricting panel improperly diluted the black vote in an east Arkansas Senate district.
An attorney for Martin said the judges on Wednesday dismissed the intentional discrimination claim against Martin in the lawsuit filed by state Sen. Jack Crumbly against the Board of Apportionment. Martin is the only Republican on the board and voted against a redistricting map that lowered the black voting age population in Crumbly’s district.
Gov. Mike Beebe and Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, the other members of the board, voted for the redistricting plan. Beebe and McDaniel are Democrats.
Crumbly testified earlier Wednesday that he didn’t believe Martin acted in a discriminatory fashion.
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