The Arcadia City Council has taken action to consider transitioning to a district-based voting system to select its City Council Members, replacing its current at-large election system.
On June 6, 2017, the City of Arcadia (“City”) received a letter from Kevin L. Shenkman of the law firm of Shenkman & Hughes. The letter asserts that the City’s current citywide (or “at-large”) voting system is not in compliance with the California Voting Rights Act (Elec. Code § 14025 et seq.) (“CVRA”). The letter demands that the City transition from at-large to district-based City Council elections and threatens litigation if that demand is not met.
In order to stay within the State’s safe harbor protections and avoid potentially costly legal exposure in the event of a CVRA challenge, this process must be completed within a short 90-day window.
Initiating the process does not require that the City convert to district-based elections. The City Council must subsequently adopt an ordinance to accomplish that result. By remaining within the timing constraints of the safe-harbor statute, the City will limit its exposure to potential litigants if it ultimately transitions to district-based voting.
Publication of Draft Map(s)
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