This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

The City of Mobile (D) has been governed by a three-person board of commissioners. These commissioners by the city at large. This system is common and is used by thousands of municipalities. Bolden (P), a black Mobile voter, claimed that the at-large voting structure unconstitutionally lessened the voting power of minorities; no black had ever been elected to the commission. The District Court found that the constitutional rights of Ps had been violated, entered a judgment in their favor, and ordered that the City Commission be disestablished and replaced by a municipal government consisting of a Mayor and a City Council with members elected from single-member districts. The Court of Appeals affirmed.

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