Summary/bullet points. See fuller descriptions below
- Vote Dilution Prohibition: Plans cannot intentionally or inadvertently dilute the voting power of minority groups.
- Majority-Minority Districts: If a minority group is sufficiently large, geographically compact, and politically cohesive, the VRA may require the creation of a district where they constitute a majority to ensure they can elect their candidates of choice.
- Three-Part Gingles Test: To prove a Section 2 violation, courts look at whether a minority group is large/compact enough to form a majority, if they are politically cohesive, and if the white majority votes enough as a bloc to usually defeat the minority's preferred candidate.
- Packing and Cracking: Prohibited practices include "packing" (concentrating minorities into one district to reduce their influence in others) and "cracking" (spreading them thin across many districts).
- Equal Population: Beyond the VRA, districts must adhere to "one person, one vote" standards by having nearly equal population sizes.
VOTING RIGHTS ACT IN CALIFORNIA (covers feds and states). basics provided to cities and state redistricting bodies by the Lawyers Comittee on Civil Rights
The California Voting Rights Act of 2001 (CVRA), addresses the continuing harm of vote dilution caused by racial polarization in at-large voting systems throughout California. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights supported the original CVRA, as enacted in 2002, effective Jan. 1, 2003, and codified at Cal. Elec. Code §§ 14026-14032.
Some election systems prevent all communities from being fairly represented in local governing bodies, such as one’s city council, board of supervisors, school board, utility district, and other elected boards. This constitutes unlawful vote dilution. Unlawful vote dilution is particularly a risk
where racially polarized voting (RPV) exists. RPV can be found where voting patterns are divided along racial lines such that a protected community does not have a sufficient opportunity to elect a candidate of choice. See Sanchez v. City of Modesto, 145 Cal. App. 4th 660, 667 (App. 5 Dist. Cal. 2007) cert. denied, 552 U.S. 974 (2007) (upholding CVRA as a constitutional voting rights protection).
The CVRA provides opportunities for local governments to resolve this continuing problem as it persists in at-large election systems that often harm historically disenfranchised African American, Latino, Asian and Native American communities. The remedy provision of the CVRA (Cal. Elec. Code § 14029) is written broadly to include a variety of potential options:
• District-based election systems (where candidates are elected by voters in local trustee areas or districts) that eliminate dilutive at-large systems• Community-based redistricting in the creation of district-based election systems
• Cumulative voting
• Ranked-choice voting
• Other creative remedies
Where Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) requires communities prove they comprise over 50% of a proposed,compact district in order to bring a case addressing unlawful vote dilution and discrimination, the CVRA removes these barriers for communities experiencing voter discrimination and dilution.
The CVRA addresses systemic voting discrimination and dilution on a deeper level than existing federal law, providing a remedy where there is no majority voting population, and recognizing proposed influence, crossover, coalition districts as potential remedies for continuing violations.
Since 2003, more than 118 school districts and community college districts in California have either sought waivers from the California Department of Education, or have converted voluntarily from at-large to district-based election systems due to community action, advocacy, and concerns regarding potential violations of the CVRA.
INDICATORS OF POTENTIAL VOTING RIGHTS ACT CONCERNS IN CALIFORNIA
Does your city council, school district, or utility district reflect the full diversity of your community? Have candidates from communities of
color or language minority communities run for office and won?
• Is your community growing? Is there little to no diversity of representation on your local city council, school board, water or utility district board
that reflects diverse community choices?
• Is the larger community racially polarized? In other words, is the electorate largely segregated along racial lines? Do white voters generallyvote for white candidates only?
• Are candidates elected “at-large”? Has your community been able to elect a candidate of choice in “at-large” elections?
LEGAL GUIDANCE TO THE CALIFORNIA REDISTRICTING COMMISSION ON DISTRICT DRAWING, 2020
Districts must be of equal population to comply with the US Constitution.
Districts must comply with the Voting Rights Act to ensure that minorities have an equal opportunity to elect representatives of their choice.
Districts must be contiguous so that all parts of the district are connected to each other.
Districts must respect the boundaries of cities, counties, neighborhoods and communities of Interest, and minimize their division, to the extent possible.
Districts should be geographically compact, that is, have a fairly regular shape.
Districts shall not be drawn to favor or discriminate against an incumbent, candidate, or political party.
Q. What is the Voting Rights Act and why is it important?
A. Before the Voting Rights Act was passed, the practice of many states was to require qualified African Americans to pass literacy tests in order to register to vote. Other states only allowed a person to register to vote if his or her grandfather was allowed to vote. The Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965 to outlaw these practices.
In the 1970s, Congress heard extensive testimony about how state and local governments drew district lines and manipulated elections rules to prevent newly-registered African American voters from being able to elect candidates. Today, the Voting Rights Act protects all racial and language minorities, including African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders.
The Commission will consider public input and legal and expert advice to meet the Voting Rights Act requirements.
Q. What is a community of interest?
A. The California Constitution defines a community of interest as:
A community of interest is a contiguous population which shares common social and economic interests that should be included within a single district for purposes of its effective and fair representation. Examples of such shared interests are those common to an urban area, a rural area, an industrial area, or an agricultural area, and those common to areas in which the people share similar living standards, use the same transportation facilities, have similar work opportunities, or have access to the same media of communication relevant to the election process. Communities of interest shall not include relationships with political parties, I ncumbents, or political candidates.
-Section 2(d)(4) of Article XXI of the California Constitution
