3 Compton residents sue city over voting rights
Three Compton residents are suing the city under the California Voting Rights Act, contending that the city’s elections are stacked against Latino candidates.
The complaint filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleges that the at-large elections for City Council seats have the effect of diluting the Latino vote. Three Compton voters — Felicitas Gonzalez, Karmen Grimaldi and Flora Ruiz — filed the suit against the city and City Clerk Alita Godwin.
City Atty. Craig Cornwell declined to comment.
The mayor and the four members of Compton’s City Council are African American. Compton was long seen as a primarily black community, but Latino residents now make up about two-thirds of the city’s population. The suit alleges that although Latino candidates have run for council seats in a number of elections, no Latino candidate has been elected since at least 1999.
Compton council members represent specific geographic districts within the city, but voting for each seat is not restricted to residents of the district. The suit alleges that the at-large elections violate the California Voting Rights Act of 2001.
A previous Times analysis of voting patterns in the cities of southeast Los Angeles County found that Compton was one of a number of cities with large immigrant populations and a pattern of extremely low voter participation. In at least three municipal elections since 2005, less than 10% of the voting-age population cast ballots, the analysis found.
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