65B - BY-WARD BASED ELECTIONS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ad Hoc Committee Recommendations March 6, 2018 Page 3of7 The CVRA was signed into law in 2002. The CVRA prohibits an at -large method of election that impairs the ability of a protected class to elect candidates of its choice or its ability to influence the outcome of an election. The law's intent is to expand protections against vote dilution over those provided by the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (FVRA). The law was also motivated, in part, by the lack of success by plaintiffs in California in lawsuits challenging at -large electoral systems brought under the FVRA. The passage of the CVRA made it much easier for plaintiffs to prevail in lawsuits against public entities that elected their members to its governing body through "at -large" elections. A plaintiff need only prove the existence of "racially polarized voting" to establish liability under the CVRA. Proof of intent on the part of voters or elected officials to discriminate against a protected class is not required. Charter provisions as they relate to Method of Electing Councilmembers The City of Santa Ana currently utilizes an at -large election system, which allows electors from the entire City to elect each of the six (6) Councilmembers and the Mayor; however, the councilmembers must be nominated by electors in their respective ward. Changing to a Ward -Based Election System will require that the councilmember be both nominated and elected by electors in that Ward. The proposed charter amendment is attached to the resolutions. The current provisions in the City of Santa Ana Charter that mandate at -large elections are as follow: Sec. 400. - Number, selection and terms of members. The City Council shall consist of seven (7) members elected at the times and in the manner provided in this charter, each of whom, except for the mayor, shall serve a term of four (4) years. The term of each member shall begin at 6:00 p.m. on the second Tuesday of December following certification of election results, and each shall serve except as otherwise provided for in this charter, until his or her successor is elected and qualified. Each office of councilmember shall be a separate office and, except for the mayor, one (1) of such offices shall be assigned to each of the wards of the City. Candidates for each office of counciimember other than1he mayor shall be nominated from such ward by the electors Sec. 401. - Qualifications of members. To be eligible to be elected to the office of councilmember, a person must be a qualified voter and a thirty (30) day resident of the ward from which the candidate is nominated at the time nomination papers are issued as provided for in the Elections Code of the State of California, except that the mayor need only be a registered voter and thirty (30) day resident of the city at such time. In the event any councilmember other than the mayor shall cease to be a resident of the ward from which the councilmember (or, in the case of an appointee, the councilmember's predecessor) was elected, or in the event the mayor shall cease to be a resident of the city, the office shall immediately become vacant and shall be filled in the same manner as herein provided for other vacancies; provided, that where a councilmember ceases to be a resident of the ward from which the councilmember (or, in case of an appointee, the councilmember's predecessor) was elected soleiv because of a chancre in boundaries of L•