DALLAS (AP) - A federal appeals court has affirmed a lower court
ruling against three Latino voters who tried to change how council
members are elected in a Dallas suburb.

Farmers Branch has been trying to drive illegal immigrants from
the city through a series of ordinances. The voting-rights lawsuit
alleged that the city's minority vote was diluted by its at-large
City Council system. The plaintiffs wanted to create single-member
districts, arguing that Hispanic citizens of voting age would form
a majority of the voters registered in one of the proposed
districts.

The three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
rejected the argument. In a ruling Tuesday, the New Orleans-based
panel insisted that the number of minority citizens of voting age
in a proposed district must form a majority of the total population
of its voting-age citizens.s, arguing that Hispanic citizens of voting age would form a majority of the voters registered in one of the proposed
districts.

The three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
rejected the argument. In a ruling Tuesday, the New Orleans-based
panel insisted that the number of minority citizens of voting age
in a proposed district must form a majority of the total population
of its voting-age citizens.