Update: The arguments concluded at about 11:45 a.m. after both sides had the opportunity to make their case and field questions from the court.
The fate of Santa Monica’s election system will finally reach The California Supreme Court today with oral arguments in the case of Pico Neighborhood Association et al. v. City of Santa Monica.
The case was filed by the Pico Neighborhood Association and Maria Loya, claiming that the City's at-large voting system discriminates against Latino voters and requesting a switch to district voting. The Los Angeles Superior Court initially ruled against the City in 2018, but the decision was overturned by an appeals court in 2020, leading the plaintiffs to take the case to the California Supreme Court.
To prove vote dilution under the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA), the plaintiffs must demonstrate that a protected class, such as race, is unable to influence an election due to being overwhelmed by the majority.
The plaintiffs proposed dividing the city into districts, which would result in a Pico neighborhood with approximately 30% Latino population compared to the citywide average of 14%. However, this would not establish a Latino majority, leading the appeals court to support the City's current at-large voting system.
The Supreme Court agreed to review the case with a focus on establishing the benchmark for proving vote dilution under the CVRA. It also upheld the Court of Appeal's ruling that the plaintiffs failed to prove discrimination in violation of the equal protection clause.
This year, the court is averaging a ruling on cases two to three months after oral arguments.
The hearing is entirely remote but the public will have access to oral argument via live-streaming on the Supreme Court website (https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/) and the California Courts Newsroom (https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/). The day's session begins at 10 a.m. and the Santa Monica case is the second of two scheduled for the day.
