[EL] equal numbers of VOTERS, rather than residents

[David A. Holtzman]

The City of L.A. may be an unusual case where the voters versus 
population distinction makes a big difference.

L.A.'s districts are drawn by population.

The following is a table of voter registration, ballots cast, and 
percent turnout for L.A.'s City Council Districts in the March 8, 2011, 
election.

With regard to turnout, bear in mind that only the even numbered seats 
were up for election, and that only some Council Districts, in whole or 
in part, were also voting in school board elections (the school board is 
elected by a different set of districts, and covers more than the City 
of L.A.)

With regard to registration, please note that *I live in CD 11, and my 
vote appears to be much less potent than that of a voter in CD 1*.

- dah

COUNCIL DISTRICT163,127 6,936 10.99
COUNCIL DISTRICT2129,783 18,284 14.09
COUNCIL DISTRICT3131,215 19,523 14.88
COUNCIL DISTRICT4126,281 20,521 16.25
COUNCIL DISTRICT5168,634 23,318 13.83
COUNCIL DISTRICT677,476 8,944 11.54
COUNCIL DISTRICT778,720 7,923 10.06
COUNCIL DISTRICT8117,346 19,288 16.44
COUNCIL DISTRICT974,153 6,004 8.10
COUNCIL DISTRICT 1099,207 14,210 14.32
COUNCIL DISTRICT 11160,170 22,908 14.30
COUNCIL DISTRICT 12138,033 25,523 18.49
COUNCIL DISTRICT 1383,507 9,626 11.53
COUNCIL DISTRICT 1493,107 18,621 20.00
COUNCIL DISTRICT 15103,513 10,634 10.27



p.s. Note also that this is about city council seats, not any of the 
positions enumerated in the apportionment clause of the 14th amendment, 
which does include some state positions ("the executive and judicial 
officers of a state, or the members of the legislature thereof"). In 
general, city council elections are not subject to as many federal 
requirements as federal elections are.






On 5/17/2011 6:20 AM, Jon Roland wrote:
> The 14th Amendment <http://constitution.org/afterte_.htm#amd14.2> 
> actually dictates that representation be based not on the number of 
> residents, or citizens, but on the number of persons qualified to vote 
> (electors), and "number of voters" could be a short way to refer to 
> that: number of those qualified to vote, not who actually vote. So 
> drawing districts equipopulous for residents rather than for those 
> qualified to vote is actually unconstitutional. We have been drawing 
> districts unconstitutionally for a long time, albeit the differences 
> are probably small in most cases.
> -- Jon
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------
> Constitution Societyhttp://constitution.org
> 2900 W Anderson Ln C-200-322           twitter.com/lex_rex
> Austin, TX 78757 512/299-5001jon.roland at constitution.org
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>
>
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-- 
David A. Holtzman, M.P.H., J.D.
david at holtzmanlaw.com

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