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912435.5 -2-November 19, 2024 The cost of campaigning in at-large elections is much higher than district-based elections -in a pure by-district election, candidates knock on fewer doors and spend less on campaign mailers. District elections are therefore more accessible to candidates whose donor and voting base is less socioeconomically advantaged. Asian American candidates have experienced these fiscal burdens, as well as the costs of vying for the votes citywide instead of representing the interests of the Asian American community. The City's use of ranked-choice voting ("RCV") in City Council elections for each council seat does not mitigate the dilutive effect of at-large elections. While RCV can help minority voting groups elect candidates of their choice by lowering the threshold of election, such anti-dilutive effects occur in multi-seat elections, not single-member districts. See Proportional Ranked Choice Voting, https://fairvote.org/our-reforms/proportional-ranked-choice- voting/. The City's website indicates that the City transitioned to RCV to avoid holding runoff elections where no candidate passed the 50% threshold for election, rather than to empower voting minorities within the City.1 II. The City's electoral history shows that Asian American candidates are usually defeated in contested elections. A CVRA violation is established if racially polarized voting occurs in elections and there is some other alternative system that would give a protected class the ability to elect candidates of its choice or influence the outcomes of elections. Cal. Elec. Code§§ 14027, 14028(1); Pico Neighborhood Ass 'n v. City of Santa Monica, 15 Cal. 5th 292, 307-08 (2023). Racially polarized voting means "voting in which there is a difference ... in the choice of candidates or other electoral choices that are preferred by voters in a protected class, and in the choice of candidates and electoral choices that are preferred by voters in the rest of the electorate." Cal. Elec. Code§ 14026( e ). The CVRA instructs that racially polarized voting can be determined by looking at the results of elections "in which at least one candidate is a member of a protected class." Cal. Elec. Code § l 4028(b ). A review of San Leandro' s recent election results confirms that Asian American candidates running in at-large elections are usually unsuccessful in contested races. In the most recent election,2 Robert Bulatao lost the race for district 6 to Dylan Boldt. In 2022, Kenneth Pon lost in District 1, while Xouhoa Bown narrowly won by 32 votes in District 5. In 2018, Benny Lee lost in his bid for Mayor and Kenneth Pon lost in District 1. In 2016, Benny Lee won, but he ran in an uncontested election as an incumbent in District 4. In 2014, Kenneth Pon lost in District 1. In 2012, Benny Lee won in District 4 with 50.09% of the vote, while Hermy Almonte lost in District 6. While Asian American candidates have been able to eke out a couple narrow wins in contested elections in the last 12 years, the electoral history of San Leandro City Council elections is clear: Asian American candidates are usually defeated in at-large elections. 1 See Ranked Choice Voting, https://www.sanleandro.org/209/Ranked-Choice-Voting. 2 We recognize that the Alameda County Registrar of Voters has not yet certified the election results for this election.