PALMDALE – In today’s Nooner, Scott Lay’s daily newsletter on California politics and policy, Palmdale’s Nov. 5, 2013 election is described as “one of the biggest tests of the reach of the California Voting Rights Act.” Lay writes, “A judge previously ruled that the at-large system of election used by the city violated CVRA and ordered a halt to the election. As the LAT’s Jean Merl reports, latimes.com/local/political, “An appellate court allowed the election to proceed but made it clear it would decide after the balloting whether the results could be certified. The interesting thing is that the confusion over the election – already at a low-turnout time – could amplify the arguments of proponents of by-district elections, who will likely be able to point to even more racially polarized voting in the results. Four candidates are running for mayor, and four candidates, including incumbent Tom Lackey, are running at-large for two council districts. Merl further writes: ‘Meantime, the trial court is preparing to issue its remedy for the voting rights act violations. The city has said it will appeal once the trial court acts.’ The city will likely find a dead-end as the California Supreme Court is unlikely to reverse facts found by the trial court under a law that it has already found constitutional in Sanchez v. City of Modesto (2007).” Check out today’s edition of The Nooner, at aroundthecapitol.com.
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