Lopez on Voter Turnout

Steve Lopez’s cynicism regarding Latino voter turnout during the recent L.A. mayoral election is premised on two fundamental misunderstandings--one of facts, the other of process (“For Shame, Non-Latino No-Shows,” June 11). Lopez has already confessed that his original statistics were incorrect but nonetheless continues to ignore the multiple factors that contribute to the phenomenon of low Latino voter turnout rates.

Language barriers and political and economic disenfranchisement continue to create fundamental obstacles to meaningful electoral participation for Latinos, obstacles that Lopez is too quick to dismiss. For example, in 1990 a federal court found that the county of Los Angeles intentionally discriminated against Latinos in drawing its supervisorial lines, which led to a consent decree and the subsequent election of the first Latina L.A. County supervisor.

In spite of these obstacles, the fact that Latinos turned out to vote in greater numbers than ever before does provide some measure of hope and reason for celebration. On a more somber note, the election suggests that racially polarized voting still exists in Los Angeles. It also means that in redistricting, we should demand enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, which addresses many of the systemic barriers to minority participation in the electoral process.

Steven Joaquin Reyes

Voting Rights Attorney

Mexican American Legal

Defense and Educational Fund

Los Angeles

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Lopez’s columns seem to me to be the height of arrogance. Having lambasted the non-Latino mayoral candidate for the weeks leading up to the election, he and many others are now licking their wounds and pouting at having been on the losing side.

Lopez is lamenting the loss of a chance to have the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles in over 100 years. But his arrogance shows in quoting Antonio Gonzalez [of the Southwest Voter Registration Project], that Antonio Villaraigosa just “ran out of Mexicans” to vote for him. As a Mexican who had very good reasons for voting for James Hahn, I can affirm that, once again, Lopez is out of touch with Los Angeles and the people in it.

Villaraigosa didn’t run out of Mexicans; he simply ran out of Mexicans who vote solely on race and not on qualifications, issues, loyalty to the city or integrity.

Gabriel Garcia

Los Angeles

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Bravo to Lopez for pointing out voter failure. But non-Latinos who constantly complain about our system and are probably born citizens should also flog themselves. We have become such a cynical bunch of crying babies, expecting everything with no effort on our part, yet complaining that this city does not do enough to alleviate traffic, fix potholes or revamp our schools. We are getting exactly what we deserve. No participation equals bad representation. We must wake up to the nightmare that on a daily basis our rights are being eroded not only by Washington but also by our local officials. We will not know what can be possible until we choose to participate in the process.

Marta Cooper

Los Angeles