BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2220|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2220
Author: Cooper (D), et al.
Amended: 5/19/16 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/29/16
AYES: Hertzberg, Nguyen, Beall, Hernandez, Lara, Moorlach,
Pavley
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 60-11, 5/27/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Elections in cities: by or from district
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill allows any city that elects its city council
at-large to enact an ordinance switching its election method to
by-district without obtaining voter approval.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Permits a general law city that elects its councilmembers
through at-large elections to provide for city council members
to be elected by district.
2)Allows a city to change its election method after the city's
voters approve a measure proposing a switch. The measure can
either be submitted to the voters by the city council or
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Page 2
placed on the ballot through the initiative process.
3)Allows cities with populations of less than 100,000 people to
change to a district-based electoral system without having to
obtain voter approval.
This bill:
1)Allows the legislative body of any city, regardless of its
population, to adopt an ordinance that requires members of the
city's legislative body to be elected by district or by
district with an elective mayor, without having to submit the
ordinance to the city's voters for approval.
2)Requires that the adopted ordinance must include a declaration
that the change in the method of electing members of the
legislative body is being made in furtherance of the purposes
of the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 (CVRA).
Background
Existing law permits a general law city that elects its
councilmembers through at-large elections to provide for city
council members to be elected by district. A city may only
change its election method after the city's voters approve a
measure proposing a switch. The measure can either be submitted
to the voters by the city council or placed on the ballot
through the initiative process.
The CVRA prohibits an at-large method of election from being
imposed or applied in a political subdivision (including a
special district) 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
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voters who are members of a protected class (SB 976, Polanco,
Chapter 129, Statutes of 2002). The CVRA was enacted 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 a
protected class of voters if a majority usually votes for
candidates who differ from candidates who are preferred by the
protected class of voters. In such situations, breaking up a
jurisdiction into districts can result in districts in which a
protected class of voters can elect the candidate of its choice
or otherwise have the power to influence the outcome of an
election. If a judge finds that a city's at-large election
method violates the CVRA, state law requires the court to
implement appropriate remedies, including the imposition of
district-based elections.
At least 160 local governments have switched from at-large to
district-based elections since the enactment of the CVRA in
2002. While some jurisdictions did so in response to
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. However, submitting an
ordinance to voters via the ballot initiative process can be
cumbersome and costly. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that
a city's voters will approve a proposed change, no matter how
proactive the city council.
Last year, the Legislature responded by allowing cities with
populations of less than 100,000 people to change to a
district-based electoral system without having to obtain voter
approval (SB 493, Cannella, Chapter 735, Statutes of 2015).
Some city officials now want the Legislature to extend that
authority to all cities, regardless of their populations.
Comments
Purpose of the bill. Since the passage of the CVRA, an
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increasing number of cities are opting to switch to by-district
elections. Numerous cities that use at-large election methods
have been sued under the CVRA by groups arguing that at-large
elections prevent minority groups from electing candidates that
represent their community or their interests. In all such
cases, citizens alleging that at-large elections violated the
CVRA prevailed. Reading the proverbial writing on the wall,
cities with at-large election methods want to avoid inevitable
CVRA lawsuits, but are also weary of the costly process of
submitting an ordinance to the voters for approval to switch to
by-district voting-which, ultimately, the voters might reject.
Last year, the Legislature allows cities with fewer than 100,000
residents to switch to by-district elections, as recommended by
many judges in CVRA lawsuits, without having to first go through
the costly and uncertain process of voter approval. This bill
builds upon last year's bill by extending the same authority to
all cities.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified7/6/16)
City Clerks Association of California
City of Elk Grove
City of Fontana
City of Rancho Cucamonga
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
League of California Cities
League of California Cities, Los Angeles Division
League of California Cities, Riverside County Division
League of Women Voters California
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
OPPOSITION: (Verified7/6/16)
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None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 60-11, 5/27/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chu,
Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer,
Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mayes,
McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, Olsen, Quirk,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark
Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood,
Rendon
NOES: Travis Allen, Bigelow, Chávez, Dahle, Beth Gaines,
Gallagher, Harper, Mathis, Obernolte, Patterson, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Brough, Brown, Chiu, Dodd, Grove, Hadley,
Jones, Melendez, O'Donnell
Prepared by:Brian Weinberger / GOV. & F. / (916) 651-4119
7/29/16 10:48:59
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