Op-Ed: Fair and independent redistricting? Los Angeles County does it already http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-fair-districting-los-angeles-a
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Monday, Feb 19, 2002
As long as the ballot is written in pencil, the vote count will depend on the voters’ literacy, intelligence and attention span.
In this election, however, there is a clear voting record: Republicans and Democrats are writing the ballot in their own, unique voices.
The voters’ voices are being heard.
That is why it is not enough to just let election night determine who wins. It is also important to determine how much more the voters are involved, to get to the bottom of how they voted.
That is the purpose of the ballot initiative known as Proposition 14. The ballot initiative in Los Angeles County seeks to make the election of a new member of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education a non-binding vote that can be appealed.
The voter initiative would establish a system of proportional representation to choose new school board members.
A citizen committee, formed by the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles, is reviewing the initiative to ensure its integrity and accuracy. In addition, the League and its affiliates in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. are conducting a review in Sacramento to determine if this ballot initiative could be legally incorporated into the state constitution.
The League’s Citizens Election Project, which has been active in California elections for years, is closely tracking this initiative. The results will be tabulated through early next year. The results will be available to the public at no charge. No one will be able to copy the information.
A vote to approve Proposition 14 can be found at www.voteusa.com. Click on “Voters’ Initiative” under Proposition 14.
The Los Angeles City Attorney’s office has initiated legal action to prevent Proposition 14 from being turned into law. The petition to file the action on behalf of the city of Los Angeles was filed on Feb. 14 at the offices of the City Attorney