BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON
ELECTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Ben Allen, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 2389 Hearing Date: 6/8/16
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|Author: |Ridley-Thomas |
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|Version: |5/9/16 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant:|Darren Chesin |
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Subject: Special districts: district-based elections:
reapportionment
DIGEST
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.
ANALYSIS
Existing law :
1)Provides that the principal act of a district shall govern
whether directors are elected by divisions or by the district
at-large.
2)Provides that the term "by districts" means the election of
members by voters of the district alone; provides that "from
districts" means the election of members who are residents of
the districts from which they are elected, but who are elected
by voters of the jurisdiction as a whole.
3)Prohibits, pursuant to the California Voting Rights Act of
2001 (CVRA), 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
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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.
4)Provides that a violation of the CVRA may be established if it
is shown that racially polarized voting occurs in elections
for members of the governing body of the political subdivision
or in elections incorporating other electoral choices by the
voters of the political subdivision.
5)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.
6)Permits any voter who is a member of a protected class and who
resides in a political subdivision where a violation of the
CVRA is alleged to file an action in the superior court of the
county in which the political subdivision is located.
7)Permits 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.
This bill :
1)Authorizes the governing body of a special district to adopt a
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 CVRA.
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
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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.
4)Makes other conforming changes.
BACKGROUND
At-Large vs. District Elections . Under existing law, a special
district can be organized so that its governing board members
are elected at-large or elected using districts. Jurisdictions
that are organized using district-based methods are usually
organized as "by-district" or "from-district." A "by-district"
jurisdiction allows only the registered voters in a district to
vote in the election to choose the governing board member from
that area. A "from-district" jurisdiction permits registered
voters in the entire jurisdiction to vote for governing board
members from each of the districts. In either case, a candidate
for the governing board must reside in the district in which he
or she is running.
There is no uniform process for a special district to convert
from at-large elections to a district-based method of election.
Current law provides that the principal act of a special
district shall govern whether the governing board members are
elected by districts or by the district at-large. Moreover,
depending on the kind of district and its size, existing law may
specify which method of election it is required to use to elect
its governing board members as well as the process for
conversion.
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
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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.
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 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.
Since the enactment of the CVRA in 2001, at least 160 local
governments have switched from at-large to district based
elections. 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.
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Notably, many school districts have transitioned from at-large
to district-based elections without receiving voter approval in
an effort to avoid potential liability under the CVRA. Even
though state law generally requires such a transition to be
approved by the voters in a school district, existing law also
permits the State Board of Education (SBE) to waive all or part
of any section of the Education Code, with certain identified
exceptions, upon request by the governing board of a school
district or county board of education. The SBE generally is
required to approve any and all requests for waivers unless it
makes a finding that one of the seven enumerated conditions
exists. Since 2009, the SBE has approved more than 130 waivers
to permit school districts to change from at-large to
district-based elections without voter approval, as would
otherwise be required by the Education Code.
Furthermore, in response to concerns that community college
districts were subject to liability under the CVRA but were
unable to change from at-large to district-based elections
without receiving voter approval, AB 684 (Block), Chapter 614,
Statutes of 2011, established a process under which a community
college district could transition from at-large to
district-based elections without receiving voter approval if
such a transition was first approved by the Board of Governors
(BOG) of the California Community Colleges, among other
provisions. Since the enactment of AB 684, the BOG has received
and approved requests from approximately 20 community college
districts to change their election method from at-large to
district-based elections.
COMMENTS
1)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
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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.
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.
This 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.
RELATED/PRIOR LEGISLATION
SB 493 (Cannella, Chapter 735, Statutes of 2015), 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. This bill mirrors
this process and permits the governing body of a special
district, as defined, to adopt a resolution, without being
required to submit the resolution to the voters for approval, to
elect the members of its governing body using district-based
elections.
AB 278 (Hernandez), which is also before this committee today,
and AB 2220 (Cooper), which is pending referral in the Senate,
both extend the option created in SB 493 to all cities
regardless of population size.
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SB 927 (Anderson), which is pending in the Assembly Local
Government Committee, permits directors of any public utility
district that is wholly or partially within the County of San
Diego to be elected at large, by subdistrict, or from
subdistricts, as defined.
PRIOR ACTION
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|Assembly Floor: |59 - 16 |
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|Assembly Local Government Committee: | 8 - 0 |
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|Assembly Elections and Redistricting | 5 - 2 |
|Committee: | |
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POSITIONS
Sponsor: Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Support: Association of California Healthcare Districts
California Association of Clerks and Election
Officials
California Association of Recreation and Park
Districts
California Special Districts Association
League of Women Voters of California
Oppose: None received
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