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<br />,6G <br /> <br />TUESDAY <br /> <br />APRIL 23, 1974 <br /> <br />A regular meeting of Martinsville City Council was held in Council Chambers at <br /> <br />7:30 P. M. on April 23, 1974, with Mayor West presiding, and with all members <br /> <br />present as follows: Mayor Francis T. West, Vice Mayor H. L. Boaz, W. D. Hartford, <br /> <br />William D. Hobson and Morton W. Lester. Minutes of the meeting of April 9, which <br /> <br />was adjourned to April ll, 1974, were approved as read. <br /> <br />Council asked the City Administration to determine the legality and feasibility of <br /> <br />changing City procedure as to the issuance of automobile license decals so as to <br /> <br />parallel the new State system of having State automobile licenses to come due <br /> <br />during various months of the year, instead of a single expiration date for all <br /> <br />licenses. <br /> <br />It was noted that pursuant to action recently taken by City Council, to consolidate the <br /> <br />ten voting precincts into five, citizens living in the old Precincts one and six had <br /> <br />asked the U. S. Department of Justice to review the consolidation action to determine <br /> <br />whether it might be in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and that during <br /> <br />the previous week the City Attorney had been advised that the Department of Justice <br /> <br />had no objection to the consolidation plan except as to Precinct No.1, with the <br /> <br />West End Day Care Center as the polling place, and Precinct No.6, with the <br /> <br />Albert Harris School as the voting place, on the ground that the consolidation of <br /> <br />one and six would be an undue inconvenience to voters who might walk to the polls, <br /> <br />that there may be delays due to overcrowding and that the consolidation might result <br /> <br />in a decrease in the number of votes cast in those two precincts. It having been <br /> <br />explained that the only recourse of the City would be to litigate in Federal Court in <br /> <br />an attempt to set aside the decision of the Department of Justice, it was readily <br /> <br />agreed that the City should not follow the course of litigation. At this point the <br /> <br />secretary of the Electoral Board informed Council that the Board had already taken <br /> <br />steps to continue the old Precincts Nos. 1 and 6, without consolidation, but that <br />