JACKSON, Miss. — A federal judge ruled Friday that whites’ voting rights were violated in Noxubee County. U.S. District Judge Tom S. Lee’s ruling comes six months after a two-week trial in January when Lee heard arguments from both the Justice Department and the Noxubee County Democrats.
The Justice Department had alleged the Noxubee County Democratic Party, its chairman Ike Brown and the county Election Commission practiced racial discrimination against white voters and candidates. The Justice Department has called the situation in Noxubee County “the most extreme case of racial exclusion seen by the (department’s) Voting Section in decades.” (emphasis by editor)
Ike Brown, the chairman of Noxubee County’s Democratic Executive Committee, was accused of violating the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which was written to protect racial minorities when Southern states strictly enforced segregation. The case was the first use of the act to allege discrimination against whites.
Noxubee County is a rural area along the Alabama line with a majority black population.