Supporters of Supervisor Gloria Molina asserted Tuesday that Latino voting rights are squelched in Los Angeles County -– and the county risks a federal lawsuit if it does not change the district voting boundaries to better reflect a growing Latino population.
“We have not yet reached the day when the Voting Rights Act and civil rights laws can be dismissed,” said Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund. He noted that there are cities in L.A. County that, among eligible voters, are at least 25% Latino, but have only one Latino council member or none at all. They include Whittier, West Covina, Lawndale, Duarte, Palmdale, Carson, Lancaster, Artesia, Pasadena and Long Beach, Vargas said.
“The evidence is clear and strong that discrimination continues in the county of Los Angeles. The day is not yet here to dismiss the Voting Rights Act,” Vargas said.
Molina is arguing that the Voting Rights Act, a federal law protecting minority voting power, requires the county to draw a second Latino-majority district because L.A. County is 48% Latino. If it preserves the current boundaries, she argues, the county will be illegally splitting up Latino neighborhoods and diluting Latino voting power. Her opponents say the Voting Rights Act does not require such a drastic redrawing of boundaries.
Matt A. Barreto, a social scientist at the University of Washington, testified that in most elections in L.A. County, Latinos vote for one candidate, but that candidate often loses because whites and other racial groups vote against the candidate Latinos prefer.
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