From a motion filed in March in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. According to the 2020 census, 64.3 percent of the voting-age population in Newbern is black.

Since at least the mid-Sixties, the Town of Newbern, in Hale County, has failed to hold or publicize municipal elections as required by Alabama and federal law. Because the town is small, public announcements are typically posted at the Newbern Town Hall, fire station, post office, library, and streets. However, no notice about town elections has ever been seen in any of these places. Instead, a series of white mayors and town-council members employ a policy and custom of “handing down” the positions of mayor and town-council members from one white person to the next. Thus, Newbern continues to be governed by a small group of nearly all white people.

Defendant Woody Stokes, who is white, currently holds himself to be the mayor of Newbern. Patrick Braxton, who is black, told Stokes that he planned on qualifying as a candidate for mayor. Stokes gave Braxton incorrect information about how to qualify. Nevertheless, Braxton successfully identified the correct process and fulfilled the necessary requirements on his own. Braxton became mayor of Newbern by operation of law in July 2020.

To stop Braxton, Stokes and others held a secret meeting in which attendees purported to act as the town council and adopted resolutions to conduct a special election. No notice was given to any other members of the public. The attendees reappointed themselves to the town council. The county probate judge provided no explanation for why he allowed a second mayor and town council to be sworn in.

Since December 2020, the defendants have prevented Braxton from exercising his full powers. He has no access to the town bank account, town mail, or the other tools he needs to fulfill his duties. The Newbern Town Hall has been locked for more than three years. Town-council meetings have not been held. Defendants repeatedly changed the lock so that the official key provided to Mayor Braxton does not work.