--- description: Three seats are up for grabs in first election since Michael Brown shooting title: Ferguson Holds First Municipal Elections Since Michael Brown Shooting image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8224e99cd6f3d458/698786f5e20a875de3a85ef6/ferguson-election.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [cities](/tag/cities/) ## cities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Ferguson Heads to the Polls in City Council Election by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 7, 2015 1:52 PM CUT  In this photo made Friday, April 3, 2015, Reginald Rounds, a volunteer with the Organization for Black Struggle, walks door-to-door while canvassing a neighborhood in Ferguson, Mo. In this photo made Friday, April 3, 2015, Reginald Rounds, a volunteer with the Organization for Black Struggle, walks door-to-door while canvassing a neighborhood in Ferguson, Mo.Jeff Roberson—AP by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 7, 2015 1:52 PM CUT Ferguson is holding its first municipal elections since the shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer threw the St. Louis suburb into racial turmoil last summer. Voters will cast ballots Tuesday to elect three city council members. The town, which is about two-thirds black, has a mostly white council. Historically, voter turnout has been extremely low in Ferguson, with only 12% of eligible voters turning out for a mayoral election last April. However, ongoing racially charged protests and the recent Department of Justice report outlining systemic racial bias against black residents by the Ferguson Police Department could spur greater political activity during this election. The three council seats up for grabs include Ward 3, which includes the neighborhood where Michael Brown was shot. The ward’s candidates, Wesley Bell and Lee Smith, are both black. \[[_USA Today_](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/04/07/ferguson-voters-head-to-polls/25401037/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3773704/ferguson-election-city-council/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3773704/ferguson-election-city-council/"},"headline":"Ferguson Heads to the Polls in City Council Election","datePublished":"2015-04-07T13:52:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:45:15.412Z","description":"Three seats are up for grabs in first election since Michael Brown shooting","url":"https://time.com/3773704/ferguson-election-city-council/","keywords":["cities","elections","Ferguson topic","Michael Brown"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8224e99cd6f3d458/698786f5e20a875de3a85ef6/ferguson-election.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8224e99cd6f3d458/698786f5e20a875de3a85ef6/ferguson-election.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ferguson Election","caption":"Ferguson Election","creditText":"Jeff Roberson—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/cities/","name":"cities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3773704/ferguson-election-city-council/","name":"Ferguson Heads to the Polls in City Council Election"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"'Am I next?' 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