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Judge Blocks Upstate County's Elections

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Voting has been placed on temporary hold throughout one upstate county.

Senior U.S. Judge Lawrence Kahn ruled Tuesday Albany County diluted minority voting power in its 2011 redistricting plan. The Times Union reports Kahn has blocked county officials from proceeding with this year's legislative elections until a new plan is drafted.

A 2011 lawsuit alleged that year's redistricting plan violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act by failing to create a fifth County Legislature district in which minority voters are a majority.

The paper says Kahn ordered the county to submit a new plan to the court within three weeks. The current election calendar begins with ballot petitioning in June.

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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