Question

A city's water board election laws provide that, although members of the board are elected at large, one member of the board is required to live within each of the five designated water districts within the city. The city's population was more or less evenly distributed among the districts when this election law was enacted. A resident and registered voter of the city investigated the district residency requirement and discovered that most of the city's newer residents had moved into the same two water districts, so that the city's population was no longer evenly distributed among the five water districts. Instead, 80% of the city's residents lived within its central and eastern water districts, while the other 20% of the city's residents were scattered among its three other, more rural, districts.If the resident files suit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the residency requirement, how will the court most likely rule?A The residency requirement is unconstitutional because it impairs the voters' equal protection rights, in that it gives the voters in the less populous districts more effective representation on the water board.B The residency requirement is unconstitutional because it violates the candidates' equal protection rights.C The residency requirement is constitutionally permissible because the water board members do not exercise legislative power.D The residency requirement is constitutionally permissible because the water board members are elected at large.

Answer 1

Answer: the correct answer is D The residency requirement is constitutionally permissible because the water board members are elected at large.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Equal Protection Clause prohibits state dilution of the right to vote, so that when a governmental body establishes voting districts for the election of representatives, the number of persons in each district may not vary significantly. This is the principle of "one person, one vote." This principle is used to almost every election where a person is being elected to perform normal governmental functions (e.g., an election for trustees for a junior college district). However, the principle of one person, one vote generally is not applicable where there is an at-large system of election. Here, the water board members are elected by all of the qualified voters in the city in an at-large system, and no discriminatory intent is evident. So, the statutory provision requiring board members to reside in each of the five districts does not come out in an imbalance or a dilution of the voting rights of the citizens of the city.