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City of San Leandro City Council Meeting Date: January 6, 2025 Agenda Number: 5.g. Agenda Section: CONSENT CALENDAR File Number: 25-013 File Type: Staff Report Adopt a Resolution to Adopt Process and Timeline for Transition to District-Based Election System and Redistricting Pursuant to California Elections Code sec. 10010. SUMMARY A letter received by the City alleged violations of the California Voting Rights Act (“CVRA”) due to racially polarized voting that disenfranchises Asian American voters (“Letter”). Further correspondence with the law firm that submitted the Letter demanded the City convert from its existing at-large election system to a district-based election system for City Council races. RECOMMENDATIONS Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution demonstrating the City’s intention to transition to a district-based election system as well as a proposed process and timeline for both the City’s conversion of its election method and its redistricting protocol. BACKGROUND On November 21, 2024, the City received a demand letter from the firm Goldstein Borgen Dardarian & Ho on behalf of Robert Bulatao (“Claimant”), a resident and unsuccessful candidate for the District 6 City Council in the City’s November 2024 election. Claimant alleges the City’s current election system produces racially polarized voting , resulting in vote dilution. Claimant’s letter does not include any statistical data to substantiate these claims, but Claimant proposes that the City transition from its existing at-large election system to a district-based election system. The City Council is currently analyzing the claims. Under Section 225 the City’s Charter, City Councilmembers are elected under an at-large election system, which allows voters from the entire City to choose each of the six (6) Councilmembers. In the past, the City Council has raised the issue of amending City Charter Section 225 to a district-based election system. Under the proposed district-based election system, the City’s voters would be limited to electing one Councilmember from the district in which they reside, whereby the Councilmember also resides in that district. Legal Analysis The Federal Voting Rights Act was enacted in 1965 to protect the rights of Americans of all races to vote. The CVRA, which was signed into law in 2001, is intended to expand the protections provided by Federal law by making it easier for plaintiffs to prevail in lawsuits against public entities that utilize at-large elections for electing members to their governing bodies. The CVRA Page 1 City of San Leandro Printed on 9/4/2025