Santa Monica District Elections Litigation Update

January 14, 2019 1:50 PM
by Lane Dilg

This article originally appeared in the January edition of Seascape. 

The City of Santa Monica has used an at-large election system since 1915. In 1946, the voters adopted our current at-large system, under which residents vote for all seven members of the City Council, casting ballots for three to four Council members every two years. Voters have twice (in 1975 and 2002) rejected proposals to move from this at-large system to a district-based election system.

In April 2016, the Pico Neighborhood Association, Maria Loya, and Advocates for Malibu Public Schools filed a lawsuit alleging that the City’s at-large system for electing Council members dilutes Latino voting power in violation of the California Voting Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the California Constitution. Advocates for Malibu Public Schools later dropped out of the suit.

At a six-week trial earlier this year, the City presented evidence defending its at-large election system. The City demonstrated, among other things, that Santa Monica has a history of electing people of color, including Latino/as, to local positions under the at-large system; that Latino/a representation on the City Council exceeds the Latino citizen voting age population (13%) of the City; and that between 2002 and 2016, candidates preferred by Latino/a voters were elected to the City Council at least 70% of the time. The parties also agreed at trial that – because Latino/a voters live throughout Santa Monica and not just in one neighborhood – it is impossible to draw a district in Santa Monica in which the Latino/a voting population exceeds approximately 30% of total voters in the district. No court has ever ordered a city with these demographics to move to a district-based system in a vote-dilution case, as there is no way to demonstrate that such a system would improve outcomes for Latino/a voters, and such a system would deprive Latino/a voters of the ability to join together across the City to elect candidates of choice.

On December 12, 2018, the court issued a first amended tentative decision in the case. This tentative decision, if made final, would rule for the plaintiffs on both claims, enjoin the City from holding further at-large Council elections, and require district-based Council elections in the future. The tentative decision did not include legal or factual analysis of the issues in the case; rather, the court has ordered the plaintiffs to file a proposed statement of decision on January 2, 2019, to outline the basis for the tentative rulings. A final ruling and judgment will be issued only after the court reviews the proposed statement of decision as well as any objections filed by the City.

Once the court issues a final judgment, the parties will have the opportunity to file an appeal. Any order that requires the City to adopt a district-based election system would be held in abeyance pending a final decision from the court of appeal.

A change to the election system impacts everyone in the Santa Monica community. For the latest information and to access court documents visit santamonica.gov/cvra.

Authored By

Lane Dilg
Interim City Manager