FINDINGS of FACT I. Background and Procedural History A. Factual
Case 1:11-cv-01428-CKK-MG-ESH Document 149-1 Filed 08/16/12 Page 1 of 38 FINDINGS OF FACT I. Background and Procedural History A. Factual Background 1. Five of Florida’s sixty-seven counties are covered jurisdictions subject to the requirements of section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 42 U.S.C. § 1973c. Those five counties are Collier County, Hardee County, Hendry County, Hillsborough County, and Monroe County. See A117 (Revised Jointly Stip. Facts ¶¶ 1-2). Each county became subject to coverage by operation of the language minority amendments to the Voting Rights Act in 1975. See 28 C.F.R. Pt. 51, App.; see also 41 Fed. Reg. 34329 (Aug. 13, 1976); 40 Fed. Reg. 43746 (Sept. 23, 1975). The State of Florida is not itself covered by section 5. 2. According to the 2010 census, the covered counties have a combined population of approximately 1,691,000, of which 13% are African-American and 26% are Hispanic. A7677 (Expert Report and Decl. of Russell Weaver) (compiling data from the 2010 U.S. Census Community Survey dataset). The covered counties’ citizen voting age population is approximately 12% African-American, 16% Hispanic, and 68% white. (Other minorities, including Asian-Americans and Native Americans, make up the remainder.) Id. at A7683. 3. Hillsborough County is the largest of the covered counties, constituting 73% of the covered counties’ combined population. Id. at A7677. The other covered counties, in descending order of population, are: Collier County, which accounts for 19% of the covered counties’ total population; Monroe County, which makes up 4% of the covered counties’ total population; and Hardee and Hendry Counties, which each constitute 2% of the covered counties’ total population.
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