THE USE OF DEMOGRAPHIC-DATA IN VOTING-RIGHTS LITIGATION

The proliferation of voting rights litigation in the past 25 years, and particularly during the 1980s, has resulted in the need for analysis of demographic data to support claims made by both plaintiffs and defendants. Most of the demographic analyses in voting rights cases have focused on a series of questions regarding the appropriate population base to be used in forming single-member districts and the consequences of using various populations. Standards used by the courts have been vague, often contradictory, and rather elusive by social science standards. Several questions of a demographic nature remain unsettled. Some of the key questions in this domain are reviewed and their implications discussed using examples from the recent Los Angeles voting rights case when possible.