 The mayor is elected at-large, and the council members are elected from each of the seven city council single-member districts (SMDs).A supermajority of five votes is required to conduct council business.This form of city government was chosen by the voters after the previous form of government, which had three city commissioners, each elected at-large, was ruled in 1975 to substantially dilute the minority vote and violate the Voting Rights Act in "Bolden v. City of Mobile".