1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
RESOLUTION NO. 7
Advocating Statewide District-Based
Voting System for School Boards
WHEREAS, At-Large Voting Systems in the United States have historically been used
to disenfranchise voters based on race or ethnicity, and
WHEREAS, the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 protects minority voters from
disenfranchisement and ensures that votes of minorities in local election
jurisdictions are not diluted by At-Large Voting Systems, and
WHEREAS, the California Democratic Party strongly urged local districts with At-Large
Voting Systems to immediately undertake the legally required post-census
voting rights analysis, and
WHEREAS, a number of At-Large electoral districts have not yet undertaken the legally
mandated post-census voting rights analysis to determine whether they
need to convert to a single member District-Based Voting System district,
and
WHEREAS, the advantage to the single member District-Based Voting System is cost
efficient to the candidate running for a seat within the school board
system;
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED: That the California School Employees Association
(“CSEA”) request school districts with At-Large Voting Systems to undertake the legally
required post-census voting rights analysis and that the districts adopt the single
member District-Based System throughout the entire State.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That elections change from At-Large Voting
System to a District-Based Voting System, where the School Board candidates must
reside in the district and only registered voters in that district can vote for the
candidates.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That the Districts with At-Large Voting Systems
and Legal Counsel take all actions necessary to effectuate the timely transition from AtLarge Voting to District Based Voting, as described herein.
Certified January 30, 2016, postmark
Kerry Woods, Association Secretary
Submitted by Newport-Mesa Chapter 18
Area H, Region 49
Approved at January 29, 2016
Chapter Meeting
/s/ David Johnson, Chapter President
/s/ Angela Miner, Chapter Secretary
Author’s Statement
With the At-Large Voting system that many districts currently have, the ability to
endorse a candidate that is an advocate for CSEA Union rights is not cost effective.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
Resolution No. 7 – continued
Having a District-Based Voting System allows a more even playing field for many
chapters that may have a limited budget to advocate for Pro-Union candidates.
District-Based Voting allows chapters to “Champion” a candidate from a specific Trustee
Area that has Classified staff in mind.
With more Union friendly School Board members advocating for Classified rights and
issues within a Trustee Area, CSEA can better serve its members.
Analysis and Recommendation
This resolution directs the California School Employees Association (CSEA), AFL-CIO,
to request school districts with at-large elections to undertake a “legally required” postcensus voting rights analysis and that the districts adopt District-Based Elections
throughout the entire state.
In effect, this resolution would force school districts to hold board elections by trusteearea rather than at-large elections so that only residents of a trustee area may vote for a
school board candidate living in the same trustee area.
Background
Current law does not require a single election method to be used in all school districts to
elect school board members. School districts may establish a method whereby each
school board member is elected by the voters in the entire school district (“at-large
voting”) or a method whereby each school board member is elected only by the voters
residing in each designated trustee area of the school district (“trustee area voting”). A
change from one type of voting method to another type of voting method generally
requires a vote by the voters living within the entire district.
Fifteen years ago, the legislature enacted the California Voting Rights Act of 2001
(“CVRA”), which prohibits the use of an at-large election system for any governing body
of any political subdivision, such as a city, county, or school district, if it can be shown
that such an election system results in “racially polarized voting.” In other words, the
use of an at-large election system is prohibited if it impairs the ability of a protected
class of voters to elect candidates of its choice or its ability to influence the outcome of
an election.
The CVRA does not prohibit at-large election systems; instead, the CVRA provides the
right to sue to any voter who is a member of a protected class and who resides in the
political subdivision, such as a school district, where the CVRA violation has occurred.
School districts must, of course, comply with the CVRA regardless of whether there is a
pending lawsuit.
The authors have referred to a legally required post-census voting rights analysis.
There is no requirement to undertake a post-census voting rights analysis for the
purpose of determining whether racially polarized voting has occurred. Instead, there is
simply a requirement, after each decennial federal census, that school districts and
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
Resolution No. 7 – continued
community college districts who have a “trustee area” system, must adjust the
boundaries of the trustee areas based on changes in population only.
Committee Review and Recommendation
The Legislative Committee members were sympathetic to the arguments from the
authoring chapter that many classified school employees have a hard time electing proclassified school board candidates. The Committee made the following observations:

Moving from an at-large system to a trustee-area system does not guarantee the
ability for local chapters to elect classified-friendly school board members. Each
school district is different. In some districts, all classified employees have a better
chance of effecting elections if their votes add up to higher numbers throughout
the entire school district rather than being separated by smaller trustee areas.

Trustee-area voting systems often carry higher costs than at-large election
systems, due to the post-census analysis and other administrative overhead.
Funding such elections may take more money off the bargaining table.

Each chapter should have the choice whether to bring a suit to move from atlarge elections to trustee-area elections rather than mandating the move to every
district in the state.

Most, if not all CVRA suits are settled by districts because court costs are higher
than adjusting the election system, so it is reasonably easier and more
strategically advantageous to change school district elections selectively rather
than all at once.
For these reasons, the Legislative Committee unanimously recommends a "No" vote on
Resolution No. 7.