City of Mobile v. Bolden

Mobile's at-large system for electing its three City Commissioners, each requiring a majority citywide vote, made it structurally difficult for the geographically concentrated black community to elect a sympathetic commissioner, and no black candidate had ever won a seat. Bolden and other black residents (plaintiffs) sued, claiming the system violated the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments; the district court and court of appeals ruled in their favor based on the system's discriminatory effect and historical context.