BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 278
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
278 (Roger Hernández)
As Amended August 11, 2016
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | | (June 3, |SENATE: |33-5 |(August 17, |
| | |2015) | | |2016) |
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(vote not relevant)
Original Committee Reference: E. & R.
SUMMARY: Permits any city, regardless of population size, to
change the method of electing its governing board members from
at-large to a by-district method of election without receiving
voter approval and provides that if voter approval is sought,
the proposed boundaries for the districts are not required to
appear on the ballot.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of the bill,
and instead:
1)Repeal the population limitation on a law that permits the
legislative body of a city with a population of fewer than
100,000 people to adopt an ordinance, without being required
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to submit the ordinance to the voters for approval, that
requires the members of the legislative body to be elected by
districts, thereby giving all cities, regardless of population
the flexibility that is provided by that law.
2)Repeal a requirement that a city ordinance submitted to the
voters asking whether they want to adopt a by-district or
from-district method of election for members of the
legislative body must include the boundaries and number of
each such district. Require the legislative body to prepare a
proposed map describing the boundaries and numbers of the
legislative districts after the ordinance is passed, as
specified. Permit the legislative body to seek public input,
including accepting proposed maps submitted by the public.
Require the district boundaries to be effective beginning the
first election following approval by the legislative body for
which election consolidation deadlines have not passed, as
specified.
3)Require a legislative body that is establishing or adjusting
district boundaries pursuant to this bill to hold public
hearings on the boundaries, as specified by existing law.
4)Require the legislative body of a newly incorporated city that
has voted to elect members of the city council by district,
when establishing the boundaries of city council districts, to
comply with applicable provisions of the federal Voting Rights
Act of 1965.
5)Make technical, nonsubstantive, and conforming changes.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY, this bill required general law cities
with a population of 100,000 or more, as specified, to elect
members of the city council by district.
FISCAL EFFECT: None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
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Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS: Under existing law, a city can be organized so that
members of the city council are elected at-large or are elected
using districts. In cities that have districts, the city can be
organized such that the registered voters in the entire city
vote for councilmembers from each of the districts (known as
"from district" elections), or such that only the registered
voters in a district vote in the election to choose the
councilmember from that area (known as "by-district" elections).
In either instance, a candidate for the city council must
reside in the district in which he or she is running.
Until last year, any city that wished to move from at-large
elections to a district-based method of election generally
needed voter approval in order to enact such a change. SB 493
(Cannella), Chapter 735, Statutes of 2015, however, permitted a
city with a population of fewer than 100,000 people to change
the method of electing council members to a by-district method
of election without receiving voter approval if such a change
was made in furtherance of the purposes of the California Voting
Rights Act (CVRA). Any city with a population of 100,000 or
more still generally needs voter approval in order to change
from at-large elections to a district-based method of election.
SB 976 (Polanco), Chapter 129, Statutes of 2002, enacted the
CVRA to address racial block voting in at-large elections for
local office in California. In areas where racial block voting
occurs, an at-large method of election can dilute the voting
rights of minority communities if the majority typically votes
to support candidates that differ from the candidates who are
preferred by minority communities. In such situations, breaking
a jurisdiction up into districts can result in districts in
which a minority community can elect the candidate of its choice
or otherwise have the ability to influence the outcome of an
election.
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Accordingly, the CVRA prohibits an at-large method of election
from being imposed or applied in a political subdivision in a
manner that impairs the ability of a protected class of voters
to elect the candidate of its choice or to influence the outcome
of an election, as a result of the dilution or the abridgement
of the rights of voters who are members of the protected class.
As a result of the CVRA, many local jurisdictions have converted
or are in the process of converting from at-large methods of
election to district-based elections. Requiring voter approval
for such a change to take effect, however, can make it difficult
for jurisdictions to proactively transition to district-based
elections in order to address potential liability under the
CVRA.
This bill was substantially amended in the Senate and the
Assembly-approved provisions of this bill were deleted. This
bill, as amended in the Senate, is inconsistent with Assembly
actions. The provision of this bill that allows all cities,
regardless of population, to change the method of electing
council members to a by-district method of election without
receiving voter approval is similar to AB 2220 (Cooper) of the
current legislative session, which is pending in the Senate. AB
2220 was approved by the Assembly on a 60-11 vote.
Analysis Prepared by:
Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094 FN:
0003601
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