Philippart

This is an action for declaratory relief in the form of an election contest. The action was commenced in the Contra Costa County Superior Court by Charles Philippart (hereinafter contestant) who was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the office of Trustee of Hotchkiss Tract Reclamation District 799 at the regular election on November 6, 1973. His principal contention is that respondent Ernest Burroughs received more votes than he did because the election was conducted in compliance with Water Code section 50704, which provides in part that: “Each landowner or legal representative in the district may vote at any election in person or by proxy, and may cast one vote for each dollar’s worth of real estate owned by him or his principal in the district, as determined from the last equalized tax roll of each county in which the lands of the district are situated. . ..”

The trial court concluded that “The provisions of Section 50704, of the Water Code, that apportion votes in district elections on the value of land in the district as determined from the equalized tax roll of the county, violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States…