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U.S. Department of Justice Page 5 September 20,2002 concentrated Black communities In areas surrounding the boundaries of proposed District 4. Second, the limitation imposed by the fact that the overall Black population within the City of La Porte is only 1,941 out of 31,880 (or 6.08%). Third, the fact that based on the preceding factors it would be impossible to increase the percentage of the Black population of District 4 without violating 1) the "one person one vote principle" of Conner v. Finch, 97 S.Ct.1828 (1977) and 2) the holding of Shaw v. Reno, 113 S. Ct. 2816 (1993) (which precludes using race as the "predominant" factor in the configuration of districts). Alternative plans for Re-Districting designed to include a higher total percentage of minorities in District 4 would also require that the Committee depart from the standards set out in the Criteria Ordinance mandating that districts contain easily identifiable boundaries, be compact and contiguous, and avoid division of neighborhoods and historical communities of interests in districts. Furthermore, as indicated above, configuring District 4 to further increase its minority population would require highly unusual features to join pockets of minority concentrations throughout the city, including possibly removing minority voters from District 3, the other district represented by a Black citizen. (14 ) The minority populations of both Black and Hispanic groups located within District 3, also currently represented by a Black citizen, are increased under the proposed Re-Districting. The increase in population is in terms of both actual numbers and as a percentage of the total population of the proposed district. The number of Black citizens increased from 163 to 223, an increase of 37%. The Hispanic population increased 21 %, from 760 individuals to 916. (15) The change in the number of polling places from six to two is intended, and is expected, to reduce the probability of minority voters located in District 4 from traveling to a polling location not eligible for District 4 voters. The proposed polling location for East side voters (which includes District 4 voters) is located immediately adjacent to the District 4 boundary with District 5. Furthermore, the location of the West side polling location will be within District 3, which is expected to further reduce opportunities for voter difficulty among minorities within this district. (16) The City of La Porte has not been a party to any past or pending litigation concerning a change affecting voting or related prior voting practices. (17) Prior changes affecting voting in the City of La Porte have been the subject of prior submissions under the Voting Rights Act, and are incorporated by reference herein, (18 ) The following maps and related schedules, reflect the following information: (i) The existing boundaries of the voting unit or units sought to be changed and the population distribution by race within the existing units are shown