San Mateo Daily Journal
By Jon Mays
The shift from at-large to district elections will happen to all government agencies eventually. And every government agency should begin the process of doing it right now.
It’s been happening for the past few years because of the California Voting Rights Act of 2001, which essentially sought to make it easier for minority groups to say their votes were being diluted through at-large elections. The idea is that at-large elections require more money for candidates and thus disadvantage minority groups seeking representation on decision-making bodies...
There are arguments for and against...The arguments don’t matter because the California Voting Rights Act essentially requires the move to district elections to comply. So why not compel it legislatively?
I asked newly minted state Sen. Josh Becker, D-San Mateo, if he might pursue such legislation and he said he would be interested in learning more. It may not be popular legislation with cities and districts… but it will save them money in the long run. And isn’t that the role of state government to take that higher view?