BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2389
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
2389 (Ridley-Thomas)
As Amended May 9, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Elections |5-2 |Weber, Gordon, Low, |Harper, Travis |
| | |Mullin, Nazarian |Allen |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Local |8-0 |Eggman, Waldron, | |
|Government | |Mullin, Bonilla, | |
| | |Chiu, Cooley, Gordon, | |
| | |Linder | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Permits a special district to change the method of
electing its governing board members from at-large to a
by-district method of election without receiving voter approval.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes the governing body of a special district to adopt a
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resolution, without being required to submit the resolution to
the voters for approval that requires members of its governing
body to be elected using district-based elections.
2)Requires the resolution to include a declaration that the
change in the method of electing members of the governing body
is in furtherance of the purposes of the California Voting
Rights Act (CVRA) of 2001.
3)Defines a "special district," for the purposes for these
provisions, to mean an agency of the state formed pursuant to
general law or special act for the local performance of
governmental or proprietary functions within limited
boundaries. Provides that a "special district" does not
include a city, county, city and county, school or community
college district, special assessment district, or a district
with appointed members on its governing board.
FISCAL EFFECT: None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS: According to the author, "Current law provides for
different forms of government for special districts in
California. Depending on the type of district, a special
district can be organized so that members of the governing board
are elected at-large or are elected using districts. In
jurisdictions that have districts, the districts can be
organized such that the registered voters in the entire district
vote for governing board members from each of the districts
(known as "from district" elections), or the jurisdiction can be
organized so that only the registered voters in a district vote
in the election to choose the board member from that area (known
as "by district" elections). In either case, a candidate for
the governing body must reside in the district in which he or
she is running.
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"The CVRA is designed to protect against at-large election
systems that dilute minority voting rights. As a result of the
CVRA, local governments throughout the state have been
transitioning from at-large to district-based elections. If a
special district wishes to move from at-large elections to a
district-based method of election to address concerns under the
CVRA, existing law provides no uniform process for accomplishing
that conversion.
"[A] voter approval requirement, however, can make it difficult
and costly for jurisdictions to proactively transition to
district-based elections in order to address potential liability
under the CVRA. AB 2389 allows a special district that is
concerned about liability under the CVRA to voluntarily convert
from at-large to district-based elections without the expense of
a ballot initiative. This bill mirrors a similar process that
is already in place for general law cities with populations of
fewer than 100,000 people."
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
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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.
In many cases, local government bodies must receive voter
approval to move from an at-large method of election to a
district-based method of election for selecting governing board
members. This voter approval requirement can make it difficult
for jurisdictions to proactively transition to district-based
elections in order to address potential liability under the
CVRA. If a jurisdiction attempts to transition from at-large to
district-based elections to address CVRA concerns, but the
voters reject the proposal, the jurisdiction nonetheless remains
subject to a lawsuit under the CVRA. Furthermore, to the extent
that there is racially polarized voting on the question of
whether to transition from at-large to district-based elections,
the results of the vote on that question could provide further
evidence for a lawsuit under the CVRA. As a result, many
jurisdictions have sought ways to transition from at-large to
district-based elections without having to receive voter
approval for such a change.
Please see the policy committee analyses for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by:
Nichole Becker / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094 FN:
0002919
AB 2389
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