Last week, Councilmember Hugo Soto Martinez faced scrutiny, according to published reports, over the planned placement on the November ballot of a proposal that would allow noncitizen voting in certain local elections in Los Angeles. The measure followed a months long campaign led by the council member but was withdrawn at the last moment.
I have stated, “I recognize that it needs further study.” Several Latino political figures opposed the proposal, and according to published reports, Soto Martinez also received cautious feedback from members of the Black community.
Some Black community members and political observers have raised concerns that expanding the electorate to include noncitizens in local elections could shift the balance of political power in already competitive Los Angeles City Council districts. They do not argue that Black voters would lose voting rights, but that the addition of a large number of new eligible voters could change coalition dynamics in districts where Black voters now represent a smaller share of the population than in previous decades. These concerns are often associated with South Los Angeles districts, where demographic change has already made elections more competitive and less focused on historically Black voting blocks.
Black political representation on the Los Angeles City Council has changed significantly over time alongside long term demographic shifts and redistricting.
In the 1960s, Black representation on the 15-member council began in a limited form, with the election of Tom Bradley in 1963 marking a major milestone in Los Angeles political history. Over the following decades, representation increased as South Los Angeles districts, where many Black residents were concentrated, regularly elected Black council members.
By the early 2000s, the City Council reached a period where multiple Black council members served simultaneously, and people of color collectively held a majority of seats. This period is often described as a peak in Black political influence on the council.
Over time, however, city demographics continued to shift. The Black share of Los Angeles population declined from about 15 percent in 1970 to about 8 percent in 2020, while other groups increased significantly. Many historically Black neighborhoods in South Los Angeles became majority Latino or more diverse in composition. District 9, for example, is now approximately 78 percent Latino and about 13 to 16 percent Black, compared with earlier decades when it served as a central hub of Black political representation.
In recent election cycles, these changes have contributed to fewer Black seats held on the City Council. The council currently has about two Black members out of 15 seats, or roughly 13 percent, down from higher levels in past decades. One significant shift is that District 9, which has been continuously represented by Black council members since 1963, is expected to elect a non-Black council member for the first time in roughly 60 years.
Overall, this trend reflects a structural relationship between population distribution and district based elections. As neighborhood demographics change, the electoral coalitions that determine City Council outcomes also change.
At the same time, other members of the Black community and several progressive organizations support or are open to the noncitizen voting proposal, arguing that it would expand democratic participation to long-term residents who already live, work, and pay taxes in the city. From this perspective, the change is viewed as expanding inclusion rather than reducing political influence.
The key factual point is that under the proposal introduced by Councilmember Hugo Soto Martinez, no existing voters would lose their voting rights and no group would be removed from the electorate. The only change would be the potential addition of new eligible voters if Los Angeles voters approve the charter amendment and the city later implements it.
Soto Martinez has said he plans to reintroduce the proposal in the future after reviewing concerns raised during the latest round of debate.
