It’s a legal battle no city in the Golden State has won: a California Voting Rights Act lawsuit.
Locally, scores of Orange County cities have unsuccessfully fought back against the legal threats and the push to switch to district elections.
Over the past decade, Anaheim, Fullerton, Garden Grove, San Juan Capistrano, Fullerton, Orange and Santa Ana have switched to district elections.
Now, the city of Cypress is slated to pay $835,000 to settle a voting rights lawsuit.
A Long Battle
For over a year, Cypress was fighting a lawsuit from the Southwest Voter Registration Project that claimed the city’s at-large voting system was disenfranchising Asian American voters, which they argued violated the state’s Voting Rights Act.
Malibu-based attorney Kevin Shenkman — who’s been representing clients suing cities across California for similar reasons — filed a lawsuit in 2022 after city officials refused to voluntarily transition to by-district voting.
In an at-large voting system, residents can vote for as many candidates as open seats. That means if there are three open city council seats, then all the city’s residents can vote for three different candidates.
But in a district-based voting system, the city is separated into different geographical zones.
With this method, residents can only vote for the city council member who represents the district that they live in.
Shenkman’s lawsuit alleged Cypress’ at-large voting system prevented the city’s Asian American voters from electing a council member who represents their community.
A Failing Trend
Cypress is one of a handful of OC cities that decided to fight back against California Voting Rights Act lawsuits.
Over the past few years, Brea city officials have also put up a fight against creating election districts. The council voted to not proceed with district elections in 2022.
In a phone interview with Shenkman earlier this year, he said Brea would “end up in the same position as Cypress” if they don’t get ahead of things soon.
[Read: Could Two of OC’s Smaller Cities Buck California’s Trend Toward District Elections?]
Many cities simply decided to change their voting method as soon as they received a letter from Shenkman threatening to sue if they didn’t comply.
In La Palma, council members decided to comply with Shenkman’s demands a month after receiving his letter in 2022. Last year, Aliso Viejo city officials had approved maps and fully transitioned to district voting within six months of receiving Shenkman’s letter
But Cypress refused — instead voting 4-1 to reject Shenkman’s letter demanding the change in 2022.
Councilmember Frances Marquez was the sole dissenting vote during that meeting.
“I supported a transition to district elections because, even though the council majority did not see it this way, we had to give Asian voters, and all voters, adequate representation before the council,” Marquez wrote in an email to Voice of OC. “Regardless of our politics, we should all agree that we do better when we strengthen democracy.”
In January, the city decided to settle the lawsuit and switch to districts.
Councilmembers David Burke and Marquez — the only elected officials to respond for comment — said the entire battle cost the city over $1 million.
“I publicly advocated for the city to settle this lawsuit before it was even on the council because as an attorney, I knew that the city had virtually no chance of winning,” Burke said in an interview.
“It was painful for me to watch the city spend over a million dollars and waste countless hours of city staff time on this litigation, especially while neighboring cities in our own school district either settled immediately or transitioned to districts voluntarily to avoid litigation,” he said.
[Read: Cypress Sued For Violating Voting Rights Act After Refusing District Elections]
Marquez, one of the only council members in favor of districting, said state law makes it pretty clear what municipalities are supposed to do.
“[The council’s] decision to fight transitioning to districts as required by state law was irresponsible and a blatant misuse of taxpayer dollars,” Marquez said.
Two Cypress residents – Katie Shapiro and Malini Nagpal – also joined the Southwest Voter Registration Project in their lawsuit against the city.
Even though Cypress was one of the few cities to attempt to fight off district elections, they still made the switch earlier this year.
The council voted 4-1 at a special meeting in January to settle the lawsuit and change their elections to include districts.
[Read: Cypress Officials Pick Election Map After Settling Voting Rights Lawsuit]
The city’s $835,000 payment will cover the plaintiff’s attorney fees and costs. The council approved the payment unanimously in closed session during its meeting on June 10.
“We should all be able to put our political ideologies aside and come together to make important decisions about our city, where no constituent is left out,” Marquez said. “I deeply regret the majority’s failed stewardship of our taxpayer dollars but welcome the opportunity to make sure that democracy works for all.”
Angelina Hicks is a Voice of OC Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.
•••
Can you support Voice of OC with a donation?
You obviously care about local news and value good journalism here in Orange County. With your support, we can bring you more stories like these.
