BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 278
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Date of Hearing: August 29, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Shirley Weber, Chair
AB 278
(Roger Hernández) - As Amended August 11, 2016
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
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|ASSEMBLY: | | (June 3, |SENATE: | 33-5 |(August 17, |
| | |2015) | | |2016) |
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(vote not relevant)
SUBJECT: Municipal elections.
SUMMARY: Permits any city, regardless of population, to change
the method of electing its governing board members from at-large
to a by-district method of election without receiving voter
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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
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 required by existing law.
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4)Require the legislative body of a newly incorporated city that
has voted to elect members of the city council by districts,
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.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Permits a city with a population of fewer than 100,000 people,
which elects its city council members at-large, to enact an
ordinance switching its election method to by-district
elections without submitting the change to voters for
approval. Requires ordinances adopted pursuant to this
provision to be accompanied by a declaration that the change
is being made in furtherance of the purposes of the California
Voting Rights Act of 2001 (CVRA).
2)Permits a city to submit an ordinance to the voters to provide
for city council members to be elected in any of the following
ways:
a) By districts, in five, seven, or nine districts;
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b) From districts, in five, seven, or nine districts;
c) By districts, in four, six, or eight districts, with a
mayor who is elected citywide; or,
d) From districts, in four, six, or eight districts, with a
mayor who is elected citywide.
Provides that the change shall occur, except as specified,
only upon the approval of the voters. Provides that the term
"by districts," for the purposes of this provision, means the
election of members by voters of the district alone and
provides that "from districts" means the election of members
who are residents of the district from which they are elected,
but who are elected by voters of the city as a whole.
3)Prohibits, pursuant to the CVRA, an at-large method of
election from being imposed or applied in a political
subdivision (including a city) in a manner that impairs the
ability of a protected class of voters to elect the candidate
of its choice or its ability 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 a protected class.
Requires a court, upon finding a violation of the CVRA, to
implement appropriate remedies, including the imposition of
district-based elections, which are tailored to remedy the
violation.
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.
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FISCAL EFFECT: None. This bill has been keyed non-fiscal by
the Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS:
1)Prior Committee Consideration of this Bill: In March 2015,
this committee considered and approved this bill on a 4-1
vote. At the time, this bill would have prohibited general law
cities with a population of 100,000 or more, as specified,
from electing city council members through at-large elections,
and instead would have required those cities to elect city
council members by district, among other provisions.
Subsequent to the committee's approval of this bill, it was
amended in the Senate to delete the Assembly-approved
provisions of the bill, and to add the current provisions. As
a result, this bill has been re-referred to this committee for
further consideration pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2.
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2)Purpose of the Bill: According to the author:
AB 278 advances a more fair, comprehensive and
balanced process to the potential adoption of
district-based elections. I have worked diligently to
address all the issues raised by the opposition to
this bill over the last two years.
The bill accomplishes the following:
1. The bill broadens the applicability of SB 493
(Cannella) to allow all city councils, regardless of
the city's population size, to adopt the
district-based election method directly instead of
going to the voters to seek that change.
2. In the event a city council chooses not to
adopt a change in the election method and instead seek
voter approval, the approval of the district maps
would occur after the voters have approved changing to
district-based elections, not concurrently. This is
similar to how the map adoption process is envisioned
to work under SB 493 which was approved last year.
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The decoupling of the question of whether a city
should convert to district-based elections and the
subsequent approval of the maps allows for two very
important objectives:
Voters are better able to focus solely on the
main question regarding the need to change the
election method, and
Saves money as the drawing of the maps matters
most when voters have approved changing to the
district-based election method.
AB 278 provides an opportunity to bring forward a more
comprehensive modification to our state's
district-based election law.
3)At-Large vs. District Elections and Previous Legislation:
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 so that only the registered
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voters in a district vote in the election to choose the
councilmember from that area (known as "by-district"
elections). In either case, 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 make 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 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.
4)California Voting Rights Act of 2001: 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. 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.
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The first case brought under the CVRA was filed in 2004, and
the jurisdiction that was the target of that case-the City of
Modesto-challenged the constitutionality of the law.
Ultimately, the City of Modesto appealed that case all the way
to the United States Supreme Court, which rejected the city's
appeal in October 2007. The legal uncertainty surrounding the
CVRA may have limited the impacts of that law in the first
five years after its passage.
Since the case in Modesto was resolved, however, many local
jurisdictions have converted or are in the process of
converting from an at-large method of election to
district-based elections due to the CVRA. In all, at least
160 local government bodies have transitioned from at-large to
district-based elections since the enactment of the CVRA.
While some jurisdictions did so in response to litigation or
threats of litigation, other jurisdictions proactively changed
election methods because they believed they could be
susceptible to a legal challenge under the CVRA, and they
wished to avoid the potential expense of litigation.
5)Related Legislation: AB 2220 (Cooper), which is pending on
the Governor's desk, 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. AB 2220 was approved by the Assembly on a 60-11
vote.
AB 350 (Alejo), which is also being heard in this committee
today, requires a political subdivision that changes to, or
establishes, district-based elections to hold at least two
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public hearings both before and after drawing a preliminary
map or maps of the proposed district boundaries, as specified,
among other provisions.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
American Civil Liberties Union of California (prior version)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Ethan Jones / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094
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