The city of Monterey is considering having district elections

MONTEREY, Calif. (KION) The city of Monterey is considering moving towards district-based elections.

The League of United Latin American Citizens, a Latino civil rights organization, says there is a big distinction between at-large and district voting, especially for minority groups.

A district-based election means only people who live within the district and vote for the city council member who represents their district. Instead of an at-large system, where all the citizens of that city vote. LULAC argues at-large elections dilute the vote of minorities.

"By creating districts in a city like Monterrey, if there is enough of a concentration of a minority in one specific area, then there could be a district that allows them to elect somebody of their choice," Andrew Sandoval, LULAC Director District 12.

In this case, LULAC sent a letter to the city claiming a violation of the California Voting Acts of 2001 stating that polarized voting may be occurring.

“We feel that the public interest may be better served if the city voluntarily transitions to district-based elections. And part of that is the uncertainty of potential litigation and the extraordinary costs of such a lawsuit," said Nat Rojanasathira, Assistant City Manager for the city of Monterey.

The assistant city manager says it would talk about 90 days to implement the changes with the city potentially divided up into 4 districts each with a population of 7,500 with a mayor that is voted at large.

"That also means that individuals would be able to vote for their elected officials based on those who reside closer to them or within the certain districts versus at large," said Rojanasathira.

LULAC says the majority of cities try to fight decisions like this do not win.

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