Update: May 1, 2020

400 Jurisdictions have now switched from at-large to by-district elections since passage of the California Voting Rights Act:

126 Cities
212 School Districts
34 Community College Districts
27 Special Districts (Health Care, Airport, Water, Sanitation, etc.)
1 County (now all 58 California counties are by-district)

In addition, NDC is aware of 17 other jurisdictions that adopted “Resolutions of Intent” pledging to make the change to by-district elections once the 2020 Census data is released:

8 Cities
2 School Districts
2 Community College Districts
5 Special Districts

While NDC does not have complete counts of the number of by-district school districts or special districts prior to passage of the California Voting Rights Act, we have confirmed that 29 cities were by-district prior to passage of the Act. So the total number of cities using by-district elections has skyrocketed from 29 to 155 in less than 20 years.

Note: the counts are from jurisdictions that NDC has confirmed have made the switch. We are sure there are others that have made the switch or pledged to make the switch that we have missed.

Original Post: January 25, 2016

195 is NDC’s latest tally of California jurisdictions changing to by-district elections as a result of the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA):

131 school districts,
28 cities,
1 county,
27 community college districts, and
8 other special districts.

These counts includes jurisdictions that have completed the process and those currently in the process. NDC has assisted 104 of them, including 24 of the 28 cities and 69 school districts. All of us at NDC appreciate the many jurisdictions that have partnered with NDC on this change process.

NDC is happy to help your jurisdiction too: if you have questions about CVRA; if you want to evaluate whether your jurisdiction needs to change to avoid a CVRA lawsuit; or if your jurisdiction is ready to make the change, please contact us today.