Untitled California Attorney General Opinion

BACKGROUND

Mission Viejo is a general law city governed by a city council composed of five members elected for four-year, staggered terms. 1 Until recently, these elections have

1 Elec. Code, § 1301, subd. (b); Gov. Code, §§ 36501, subd. (a), 36503; Mission Viejo Mun. Code, §§ 2.02.010, 2.04.010, subd. (a), 2.04.140; see Gov. Code, § 34102 (“Cities organized under the general law shall be ‘general law cities’”); Dare v. Lakeport City Council (1970) 12 Cal.App.3d 864, 866 (“Lakeport is what is commonly known as a general law city; it does not function under a municipal charter”).

1 22-101 been “at-large,” with each member representing the entire city and each elector able to vote for all open council seats.

In March 2018, the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project sued the city under the California Voting Rights Act on the ground that the city’s at-large system for council elections diluted the voting rights of Hispanic and Latino voters. 3 In July 2018, the parties settled the lawsuit by means of a stipulated superior court judgment. Under that judgment, starting in November 2020, the city was required to modify its at-large system by using cumulative voting.…