Los Angeles City Council members can hold a lot of weight for many of the issues you care about. For example, they approve budgets for law enforcement agencies, and decide whether or not to enforce arrests of unhoused people who camp out in certain areas in their district.

But not everyone will have a city council race on their ballot this election. Here’s why you might not.

First and foremost: Voters only vote on L.A. City Council seats if they live in the City of L.A.

Many people who have "Los Angeles" in their mailing address live in unincorporated L.A. County, not the city of L.A. That means they won't vote for L.A. City Council.

But even if you do live in the city of L.A., you still might not be voting in any L.A. City Council races this November.

That's because L.A. City Council terms are staggered. Several district seats were up for election in the March primary, and all but three were decided at that time. As a result, there are only three city council races on the ballot this fall: District 2, District 10 and District 14. So you'd need to live within one of these three districts to see the race on your ballot. The rest of the city council members are not up for election this year.

A closer look at the races on the ballot

You will see an L.A. City Council race on your fall ballot if you live in one of these districts:

• District 2
  
  • East San Fernando Valley, spans from Toluca Lake to Van Nuys
• District 10
  
  • Central L.A., including Koreatown, Mid-City and West Adams

• District 14
  
  • Northeast L.A., spanning Downtown L.A. to Highland Park
    

Live in one of those districts? You can get started with our full guide to the L.A. City Council race.

Not sure of what district you live in? We can help with that:

Show me a map of all the districts

Still not sure?

You can always confirm what should be on your ballot by accessing your sample ballot. If you aren't registered to vote yet, you can also look up your sample ballot by address.

Contact the L.A. County Elections office if you suspect any problems with your ballot.

If you have a question that’s not being addressed this election cycle, ask us! You can submit your question by using the form below and the Voter Game Plan team will do our best to get you an answer.

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