Opinion ID: 722387
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Evaluation of the plaintiffs' statistical evidence.

Text: 47 The plaintiffs maintain that they presented a strong case of racially polarized voting. They introduced statistical analyses regarding every black candidate running between 1986 and 1993. Although the district court found that the statistical evidence was not helpful, the plaintiffs contend that their statistical evidence is consistent with the type of evidence found by this court to be adequate. Accordingly, the plaintiffs contend that the district court had to discuss its reasons for rejecting the plaintiffs' evidence. 48 Regarding the adequacy of evidence needed to prove voting dilution, this Court has noted that statistics alone are not sufficient to prove impermissible voting dilution. See Parnell v. Rapides Parish Sch. Bd., 563 F.2d 180, 184 (5th Cir.1977), cert. denied, 438 U.S. 915, 98 S.Ct. 3144, 57 L.Ed.2d 1160 (1978). However, statistics, such as extreme case analysis, and ecological regressions have been approved by the Supreme Court and the Fifth Circuit to prove racially polarized voting patterns. Gingles, 478 U.S. at 52-53, 106 S.Ct. at 2761; and Houston, 56 F.3d at 612. The plaintiffs' evidence is among the types of evidence approved for voting dilution claims. While the type of evidence is satisfactory, it is the quality of the plaintiffs' evidence that the district court found to be satisfactory. Under the clearly erroneous standard of review, we cannot easily reverse the district court's factual findings regarding the lack of racially polarized voting in FBISD. 49 Though the plaintiffs presented facially persuasive statistics, the statistics were not presented by convincing witnesses. The record establishes that FBISD challenged the plaintiffs' evidence to a degree that rendered its potency questionable. Moreover, the district court had ample room to find the FBISD witnesses to be more credible than the plaintiffs' witnesses. The plaintiffs attempt to dismiss the errors of their experts as minor mistakes, typographical errors, and ambiguous questioning; however, we find that when assessing a witness's credibility regarding methodologies and statistics, numerous minor errors can make all of an expert's findings and theories unbelievable. Accordingly, the district court was well within its considerable discretion to conclude that the plaintiffs' evidence was unreliable and their theories unpersuasive. 50 Nevertheless, we will address the other specific challenges regarding the plaintiffs' evidence. First, the plaintiffs contend that there is no authority requiring them to offer statistics that isolated the impact of race on election results as compared to other factors affecting voting. When discussing the absence of a legally significant voting bloc, the district court cites Brewer v. Ham, 876 F.2d 448, 454 (5th Cir.1989) to explain that the plaintiffs did not present multi-variate analysis considering other factors. As discussed above, the plaintiffs' own experts and the district court identified several shortcomings of the statistical analyses and the evidence on which the analyses were based. We find that although the plaintiffs were not required under existing case law to present a multi-variate regression analysis comparing the impact of other factors affecting voting, had they done so this evidence may have helped them to prove the existence of a significant bloc vote in the present case. 51 Second, the plaintiffs assert that the district court placed undue reliance on the plaintiffs' failure to prove the registration levels in the FBISD. It is true that this Court has indicated that voter registration data is not the sole criteria in the voting rights analysis. Wyche v. Madison Parish Police Jury, 635 F.2d 1151, 1162 (5th Cir.1981). However, the plaintiffs misconstrue Wyche by taking the statement out of context. In Wyche, we actually recognized the importance of voter registration data: [N]either the Supreme Court nor this court has ever held that voter registration is irrelevant: it is simply not the sole criterion.... As we have noted, that is an important factor, perhaps the single most significant one in determining vote dilution. Wyche, 635 F.2d at 1162 (emphasis added); see also Rangel v. Morales, 8 F.3d 242, 245 (5th Cir.1993) (citing Gingles, the court noted that the number of registered voters affects the inquiry regarding white bloc voting); Westwego, 906 F.2d at 1046 (acknowledging that minority voter registration data is relevant to evaluating the first Gingles factor); and Overton v. City of Austin, 871 F.2d 529, 539 (5th Cir.1989) (recognizing the limitations of statistical analysis where the expert's extrapolations ignored voter registration). The district court merely commented that the plaintiffs failed to present evidence regarding voter registration data. This comment, in view of the significance that this Court places on voter registration information, does not demonstrate that the district court placed undue reliance on the plaintiffs' failure to present registration data. 52 In reaching these conclusions, we cannot say unequivocally that the FBISD system does not in fact violate the Voting Rights Act. We hold only that the plaintiffs failed to establish a violation with the evidence they presented in this case. 53