District Elections

The residents of San Clemente currently select the five members of the City Council by conducting “at-large” or citywide elections held in November of even numbered years. In a district election process the City is divided into geographic districts, each candidate for City Council must reside in the district they will represent, and residents will only vote for candidates that reside in their district. The candidate receiving the most votes in each district will be elected to the City Council. 

On July 10, 2023, the City of San Clemente received a letter challenging the at-large election process asserting the current process violates the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA). The CVRA prohibits the use of any election system “that impairs the ability of a protected class to elect candidates of its choice or its ability to influence the outcome of an election.” In response, on August 15, 2023, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 23-85 stating an intention to transition to district elections.

In November of 2018, approximately 70% of San Clemente voters rejected a measure to create voting districts. However, that vote does not protect the City from legal action to enforce the CVRA. The state eliminated the heavier burden required for a federal lawsuit that must prove discriminatory intent, historical discrimination, or that minority voters live in a geographically compact area of the City. Instead, California law only requires proof that at-large elections result in minority voters being diluted by majority voters. Because of this lower standard, not a single city has been successful in court. One City has a case pending before the Supreme Court, but the outcome is at best uncertain.

Unfortunately, State law only offers safety from litigation costs for a very short timeframe. Cities are given 45 days from receipt of a challenge to decide whether to initiate the process to transition to district elections or face potential legal action. Given the impending end of the “safe harbor” from litigation costs, the City Council announced their intention to transition to district elections.

If the City voluntarily decides to create district elections, the plaintiffs are limited by state law to recovering no more than $37,000 in expenses. Failure to respond to the demand could increase the estimated exposure to the City to between $300,000 and $600,000. Litigating the case is estimated to cost several million dollars. Financial prudence demands that the City Council consider the likelihood of successful litigation against the prohibitive cost of the litigation.

Most of the legal demands for public entities to transition to district elections have resulted in a voluntary change to voting districts or have been settled out of court. Some cities have decided to fight the demand and to date, no cities have successfully won in court. Palmdale, Santa Clara and Santa Monica have taken this issue to trial on the merits. All three lost at the trial court level. Santa Monica was successful at the Court of Appeals, but that decision was set aside by the California Supreme Court and their ruling on the case is still outstanding. Santa Monica has spent somewhere between $7 million and $10 million on its defense, and plaintiffs have already requested $22 million in legal fees for the initial trial with more costs associated with the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court actions. Some of the court and settlement fees paid by cities associated with legal actions include:

• Palmdale: paid plaintiff attorneys $4.7 million (and spent nearly $2 million on its defense)
• Modesto: paid plaintiff attorneys $3 million (and spent nearly $2 million on its defense)
• Highland: $1.3 million
• Anaheim: $1.1 million
• Whittier: $1 million
• Santa Clarita: $600,000
• Santa Barbara: $600,000
• Tulare Hospital: $500,000
• Camarillo: $233,000
• Compton Unified: $200,000
• Madera Unified: about $170,000
• Hanford Joint Union Schools: $118,000
• Merced City: $42,000

Before adopting voting districts, the City must first prepare a draft map or maps. However, before drawing a map, the City must hold at least two public hearings over a period of no more than 30 days to allow the public to provide input regarding the districts’ boundaries and composition. The City of San Clemente must use data from the U.S. Census Bureau to draw district lines to reflect the local population demographics. Districts must be similar in terms of population, and if a district can be created to benefit a protected class, that must be a key consideration. Some of the official criteria include:

Federal Laws

• Equal Population
• No Racial Gerrymandering

California Criteria for Cities

• Geographically contiguous
• Undivided neighborhoods and “communities of interest” **
• Easily identifiable boundaries
• Compact
• Prohibited: “Shall not favor or discriminate against a political party.”

Other Traditional Redistricting Principles

• Minimize voters shifted to different election years
• Respect voters’ choices / continuity in office
• Future population growth

** A community of interest is a “contiguous population that shares common social and economic interests that should be included within a single district for purposes of its effective and fair representation.” The following elements help define communities of interest:

• shared interests in schools, housing, community safety, transit, health conditions, land use, environmental conditions, and/or other issues;
• common social and civic networks, including churches, mosques, temples, homeowner associations, and community centers, and shared use of community spaces, like parks and shopping centers;
• racial and ethnic compositions, cultural identities, and households that predominantly speak a language other than English;
• similar socio-economic status, including but not limited to income, home-ownership, and education levels;
• shared political boundary lines from other jurisdictions, such as school districts, community college districts, and water districts.

Beginning in 2024, the district election process will replace the current system of at-large citywide elections.

The law requires cities to engage residents in the districting process by holding several public hearings and conducting public outreach. There are still very important decisions that need to be made by the City Council and your input is critical:

• How many districts should be formed?
• Should there be a Mayor elected at-large or a rotating Mayor?
• How long should the term of the Mayor be If there is a directly elected Mayor?
• How should term limits be applied to a directly elected Mayor?
• What are the natural neighborhoods in San Clemente?

The City Council is seeking input and suggestions in the formation of the voting districts. There will be a series of public hearings and other public outreach will be scheduled as well. Below is the schedule of public hearings:

Similar demand letters were sent to neighboring cities at approximately the same time including Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, and Rancho Santa Margarita. In recent years, other near-by communities have faced similar challenges and have proceeded to transition to District Elections including Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano and Aliso Viejo. Throughout Orange County and the State, hundreds of cities, school districts, special districts, water districts and community college districts have been compelled to transition to district elections.