Stewart v. Parish School Board of the Parish of St. Charles

WISDOM, Circuit Judge:

This case involves the right to vote in a school bond election.

Louisiana laws, unlike the laws of thirty-six states, restrict eligibility to vote in bond elections to qualified voters who are “property taxpayers”. 1 In such elections the affluence of the voter is made the electoral standard by a requirement no other State imposes on the electorate: Political subdivisions in Louisiana may issue bonds only if they are approved by a “majority in number and amount of the property” of the taxpayers who vote in the election. 2 These laws deny the vote to parents, lessees, and…