The city is set to move City Council elections to even-numbered years and employ cumulative voting. The decision was made in closed session before Tuesday’s City Council meeting, but it’s not going to affect the ballots that voters will have for the April 8 election, officials said. “The settlement represents an opportunity for all Santa Clarita citizens to have an opportunity to elect candidates of their choice — no longer will a bare majority be able to dominate 100 percent of the City Council,” said Kevin Shenkman, the lawyer for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Jim Soliz and Rosemarie Sanchez-Fraser. “(Soliz and Sanchez-Fraser) should be commended for their efforts to make that a reality.”
The end result will be that the two incumbents who would have been up for election in April 2016 — Councilmen TimBen Boydston and Bob Kellar — will be up for election November 2016.
Marsha McLean was the lone vote against the closed session vote. “Sometimes you have to look at what’s right and wrong, and you have to fight what’s wrong,” McLean said, adding she was not opposed to moving the elections, one of the terms of the settlement.
Voters will still get three votes, however, the move to cumulative voting, or weighted voting, gives voters the opportunity to vote for one candidate up to three times.
Full Article: Santa Clarita Votes To Settle California Voting Rights Act Lawsuit | KHTS Radio.