Court rejects lawsuit against California law allowing minority representation in government

A lawsuit challenging the California Voting Rights Act was dismissed Dec. 4, giving Asian Americans and other communities of color the means to improve representation in local governments.

“We applaud the Ninth Circuit’s decision affirming the dismissal of Higginson v. Becerra et al., a lawsuit that challenged the constitutionality of the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) and sought to overturn the use of district elections in the City of Poway," said a statement of legal advocates, including Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Los Angeles.

"This decision upholds the California Voting Rights Act as an important pillar of democracy and helps us continue our work fighting for fair representation for Asian Americans and other communities of color."

The CVRA, a 2001 state law that expands on the federal Voting Rights Act with the intention of ensuring minority voters have an opportunity to elect candidates of choice, has been used successfully to address concerns that at-large voting systems too often dilute the voting strength of minority groups. District-based election systems, as an alternative to at-large elections, consistently help under-represented groups elect representatives of their choice from their own communities.

In October, the City of Poway, located in San Diego County, moved from an at-large election system in which all voters choose all council members, to smaller neighborhood districts in which residents elect their own representative. City officials said they made the change fearing they would be sued for violating the CVRA.

The following day, Don Higginson, a former City of Poway mayor, sued the city and the State of California alleging the move and CRVA are unlawful.

“The California Voting Rights Act helps ensure that members of minority communities have access to meaningful representation, which is the bedrock of democracy. The CVRA, in certain circumstances, requires jurisdictions to move from at-large election systems to other models that give minority communities a better chance to elect candidates of choice," continued the statement.

At-large election systems, when used in local jurisdictions where there is racially polarized voting, prevent minority communities from electing their chosen candidates, even in some cases where those communities are very substantial portions of a local jurisdiction’s population. In such instances, the CVRA helps minority communities advocate for a fairer system.

Jonathan Stein, Voting Rights Program Manager & Staff Attorney at Advancing Justice – ALC, says, “Despite being a progressive state, California has a long way to go before it builds a fair and representative democracy, in which the electorate and our democratic institutions reflect the full diversity of our population. The CVRA is an essential tool for building a better democracy in California. This ruling allows us to continue this work, by confirming that the CVRA is constitutional, as the lower federal court and a California court have previously concluded.”

“We are grateful to our clients, Jacqueline Contreras , Xavier Flores, Hiram Poway and Judy Ki, who are standing up for a fairer democracy," said Molly Matter of Amend Law LLC.

"We are also grateful for the Ninth Circuit's decision, which affirms baseless grievances against civil rights legislation will be dismissed. Just as Supreme Court Justice Blackmun warned in his dissent in the Bakke decision nearly forty years ago, 

"We cannot—we dare not—let the Equal Protection Clause perpetuate racial supremacy," said Matter.

Advancing Justice - ALC and Advancing Justice - Los Angeles are co-counsel with MALDEF and Molly Matter of Amend Law LLC for community members who intervened in the case in support of the California Voting Rights Act.

LOS ANGELES – Civil rights advocates are asking a federal court to allow them to intervene in a lawsuit that seeks to overturn the City of Poway’s election system and challenges the constitutionality of the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA).

In a motion filed Monday, MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund), Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles (Advancing Justice-LA), Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus (Advancing Justice-ALC), and the Law Office of Joaquin G. Avila are seeking to intervene on behalf of several residents of Poway who petitioned the court to join the case to defend their access to political representation as required by the CVRA. Additionally, the California League of United Latin American Citizens and residents in the Antelope Valley Community College District also are seeking to intervene in the case to protect the right of California voters to avail themselves of the protections of the California Voting Rights Act.

The CVRA, a 2001 state law that expands on the federal Voting Rights Act with the intention of ensuring minority voters have an opportunity to elect candidates of choice, has been used successfully to address concerns that at-large voting systems too often dilute the voting strength of minority groups. District-based election systems, as an alternative to at-large elections, consistently help under-represented groups elect representatives of their choice from their own communities. 

In October, the City of Poway, located in San Diego County, moved from an at-large election system in which all voters choose all council members, to smaller neighborhood districts in which residents elect their own representative. City officials said they made the change fearing they would be sued for violating the CVRA.

The following day, Don Higginson, a former City of Poway mayor, sued the city and the State of California alleging the move and CRVA are unlawful. 

"This contrived lawsuit is the courtroom embodiment of 'Make America Great Again' - an attempt to embed white voters' longstanding privilege," said Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF president and general counsel. "However, there is no constitutional right to outvote minority voters in every election, and there is no constitutional right to have an elected body of close neighbors who cozily work together without particular knowledge of unrepresented portions of the local jurisdiction."

“District elections level the playing field for democracy,” said City of Poway resident Judy Ki.  “South Poway has a unique set of problems and needs a City Councilmember to address them.”

“Throughout California, the CVRA has been instrumental in jurisdictions converting to district elections,” noted Deanna Kitamura, Voting Rights Project Director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-LA.  “We are fighting to uphold the legality of the CVRA to ensure that it continues to be available as a means to change electoral systems that dilute votes.”  

The civil rights groups are asking the court to allow them to join the lawsuit, arguing that City of Poway may lack the commitment to defend the CVRA. Lawyers for the residents and LULAC go on to argue that while the California attorney general’s office might defend the state law, it may not have the same interest in protecting the city’s self-imposed changes to its election system.

“Seeking the protections of the federal Voting Rights Act takes significant time and money, so much so that disenfranchised minority communities often find the law out of reach,” said Jonathan Stein, Staff Attorney and Program Manager for Voting Rights at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus. “The CVRA is the only state-level alternative to the law in the nation that makes seeking relief easier for disenfranchised minority communities, which is exactly why it’s being targeted by conservative legal activists from the East Coast.”