Intern Feature: Voting on How to Vote - Exploring District Elections
A proposed map for creating districts in Irvine. Image credit city of Irvine
Irvine is proposing a shift from at-large elections to district elections, which will fundamentally change the way voters elect candidates for City Council. It is important for voters to understand how district elections work, what the effects of this may be, and how they can weigh in on whether the change is adopted.
How does shifting to district elections work?
Currently, the Irvine City Council is composed of one mayor and four council members. They are all elected through at-large elections, which means that Irvine residents vote for all five positions.
The city is proposing a switch to district elections. The city would be divided into districts and each district would have a dedicated City Councilmember to represent its residents. If the city switches to district elections, residents would vote for one council member to represent their district, instead of all city councilmembers. All residents would continue to vote for Irvine’s Mayor. There is also a separate referendum to expand the council from four council members to six council members.
These proposed changes will be voted on in March 2024, to decide whether to adopt the new system. If accepted, residents will vote with the new district elections system in November 2024.
As of now, there is no map determined yet for how these six districts will be split. The city is accepting public input on draft maps, since it is important that redistricting accurately represents the different communities in Irvine. Two public hearings are planned for September 12th and October 10th to discuss which map to adopt.
Why is this happening?
The reason for shifting to district elections is rooted in the California Voting Rights Act of 2001. The CVRA was passed to "eliminate minority vote dilution" according to the text of the bill. Section 14040 states that, "District-based elections shall not be imposed or applied in a manner that impairs the ability of a protected class to elect candidates of its choice as a result of the dilution or the abridgment of the rights of voters who are members of a protected class." In short, it was passed to protect the voting rights of minorities.
This bill was passed on the understanding that at-large elections make it much harder for minorities to find representation in government. With district voting, certain minority districts are more likely to have at least one representative elected.
The CVRA authorizes legal action against cities if their elections show "racially polarized voting," and many cities have undergone lawsuits, such as Anaheim and Santa Barbara. On account of these legal challenges, over 150 cities have begun or completed a switch to district elections in California.
Irvine is giving its voters an option to switch since the city has not been formally required by the state to do so. By switching to district elections, Irvine would be protected from any possible CVRA-based lawsuits. The increase of Irvine's population, which is over 300,000, is also a primary reason for the proposal.
What are the effects of district elections?
The switch to district elections has been shown to have the most pronounced effects in cities where minority groups are geographically concentrated in certain districts, as shown in a study by Zachary L. Hertz from the University of Chicago. The study found this effect with Hispanic populations in various cities which have switched to district elections. Due to the relatively short period of implementation, any California-based studies on district elections are performed with limited data.
According to a representative from National Demographics Corporation, the company contracted by Irvine to oversee the districting process, district elections help "representatives to be closer" to the needs of the specific district they come from. Since Irvine's population has grown so much, district elections would help representatives to advocate for the needs of smaller groups.
They also say that, "District elections can help candidates from under-represented groups or parts of the city gain representation. Candidates will no longer need to run city-wide, making it less expensive to run and easier to campaign." The intent of district elections is to help minorities get representation on city councils.
Despite that, a main downside is that voters simply get fewer votes, casting only a ballot for the mayor and one council member, instead of the mayor and all the council members. Furthermore, Irvine does not tend to have particular ethnic enclaves (such as Chinatown or other neighborhoods like that), which makes it unclear if Irvine needs district elections at all. It is possible that switching to district elections would make it harder for the city council to come to vote with the best interest of the entire city in mind.
"The reality is that when your voters are in a certain area, you're beholden to only those voters," said Tammy Kim, current Irvine City Council Member and 2024 candidate for Irvine Mayor.
In practice, other cities with district elections struggle with district in-fighting over resources. "The single biggest complaint I hear … [is] that not enough resources are going to their districts," Tammy Kim says.
How can you take action?
Irvinites can contribute to how district maps are drawn; having an accurate and fairly-drawn map is crucial to successful district elections. There are publicly available tools to create and submit maps on drawirvine.org.
Residents can also attend workshops and hearings to share points of view. This is a great way to ensure that your community's voice is heard. A calendar of important dates can be found at drawirvine.org/schedule.
Finally, vote on whether to switch to district elections or not in the March 2024 referendum.
