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California Voting Rights Act

California Voting Rights Act. Justin Levitt December 13, 2012. Today’s conversation. A brief (and broad) overview of the California Voting Rights Act Legal concepts, but not legal jargon (which means that it will be oversimplified) Not legal advice or related to ongoing disputes.

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California Voting Rights Act

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  1. California Voting Rights Act Justin LevittDecember 13, 2012

  2. Today’s conversation • A brief (and broad) overview of the California Voting Rights Act • Legal concepts, but not legal jargon (which means that it will be oversimplified) • Not legal advice or related to ongoing disputes

  3. Frequent status quo • Citywide elections “at large” • Each voter: 1 vote for each seat • Vote for up to 5 • George W.James M.Martin v. B.John T.James P. 16 016 016 016 016 0 0 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 • John A.Thomas J.Andrew J.William H.Zachary T. 5-seat city council EXAMPLE

  4. At-large voting • Officials accountable to whole political unit • Broader pool for candidates • Avoids need to determine where to draw district lines • Can dilute minority votes

  5. California Voting Rights Act • IF • Voting is at-large (everybody in city may vote for each candidate) • AND • Voting is racially polarized(minority, majority generally prefer different candidates) • THEN • At-large system can’t impair political power of racial or language minorities

  6. Potential remedies • May move to districts • May adopt alternative at-large voting system that does not impair minority political power • Limited voting • Cumulative voting • Ranked choice voting

  7. Further information Justin LevittLoyola Law School, Los Angelesjustin.levitt@lls.edu

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