The Region - News from June 25, 1987

A court order requiring the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to launch a wide-ranging outreach program to register poor and minority voters was upheld by the 2nd District Court of Appeal. The American Civil Liberties Union, Common Cause, the League of Women Voters and other groups amassed data showing that voter registration ranges from about 90% in areas with white majorities and sizable median family incomes to less than 30% in poor and minority areas. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jack M. Newman had ordered the county to solicit registrations in all county offices frequented by the public, including health clinics and welfare offices. The appellate justices said the “extraordinary circumstances” of “under-registration of a substantial number of the electorate” warrant the unusual preliminary order pending trial.