Voters are braving rain and lightning as they head to the polls for municipal elections in Ferguson, where the next city council must remake much of the beleaguered city's leadership.
Three of the council's six seats are up for grabs Tuesday in the St. Louis suburb, which has been at the center of racial strife since a white police officer fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was black and unarmed, in August.
Several city officials resigned following a U.S. Justice Department report that accused the city of racial bias and profiling in its policing and courts. The new city council must approve replacements.
The election also will add at least one more black resident the council, which currently has one black member. Blacks account for two-thirds of Ferguson's population.
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