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SURVEY SHOWS RACIAL BLOCK VOTING
By Megan O'Neil
Glendale News Press
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-pas-0120-survey-shows-racial-block-voting,0,1035205.story
Jan 20 2012
CA
Schools look at possibility of moving to a by-district election system.
Analysis of three Glendale City Council elections during the last
decade show some patterns of racially polarized voting and possible
violations of the California Voting Rights Act, according to a
consulting firm hired to collect and decipher the data.
Glendale Community College and the Glendale Unified School District
in November jointly commissioned Redistricting Partners to conduct
a $35,000 study to determine whether they should move from their
current at-large election process to a district system.
In the 2003 Glendale City Council race, Latino candidate Gus Gomez
garnered 94% of the Latino vote, far outstripping his city-wide
support of 23.7%, said Kimi Shigetani, vice president of the Community
College League of California who presented the data on behalf of
Redistricting Partners.
"The white voters within Glendale had a 9% support rate [of Gomez], so
this demonstrates polarized voting with the Latino population heavily
in support and the white population supporting the other candidate,"
Shigetani said.
Analysis of support for non-Armenian white candidates in the 2005
city council race show that the Latino and Armenian voters supported
non-Armenian white candidates at a rate of just 6%, Shigetani said.
And a breakdown of the 2011 races shows non-Armenian white city council
candidates John Drayman and Dave Weaver earning 55% support from
white voters, but just 9% support from Latino voters. Meanwhile, the
Armenian candidates for Glendale Community College Board of Trustees,
Vahe Peroomian and Vartan Gharpetian, drew 86% of votes among Armenian
voters, showing that Armenians tend to vote as a block for Armenian
candidates, Shigetani said.
The data is just a fraction of what the completed study will include,
Shigetani said, adding that analysis of multiple additional local
elections and state-wide ballot measures will be presented at a
special meeting on Feb. 9.
In at-large elections such as those in Glendale, candidates can run and
be elected regardless of their address within city, college district
or school district boundaries. In a district-based system, candidates
vie to represent specific geographic areas within those boundaries.
Passed in 2002, the California Voting Rights Act seeks to protect
the voting clout of minority groups by mandating a switch to a
district-based system in elections where the at-large process dilutes
their vote.
In September, voters in the Cerritos Community College district sued
to force the issue, saying its at-large structure diluted the Latino
vote. Representatives from the Community College League of California
and the consulting firm Redistricting Partners have warned Glendale
education officials that additional lawsuits could be forthcoming.
Further, a new state law gives community colleges the chance to
switch to a district system within a specific time frame without
putting the issue before voters, avoiding a potentially costly and
protracted approval process, they said.
A study of voting patterns would allow both the college and the
K-12 district to determine whether they should consider a change;
and if not, would provide them with evidence to defend against any
potential lawsuits, representatives from the Community College League
of California and Redistricting Partners said.
But several Glendale Community College trustees expressed skepticism
about the early findings, questioning everything from the elections
that were analyzed to the statistical significance of the numbers.
"I would be very afraid of reaching conclusions based on these numbers
that say that these trends actually make sense," trustee Vahe Peroomian
said. "Also, I think our city has changed quite a bit in nine years
since the 2003 elections. We have a successful Latino candidate that is
currently on the city council so I don't see why that is not included."
Others said that they want to see voting data more specific to the
college and K-12 school districts.
"We want to get to a real understanding if there is true polarization
here," trustee Tony Tartaglia said. "My concern is that we are getting
some conjecture and some opinions rather than factual information."
By Megan O'Neil
Glendale News Press
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-pas-0120-survey-shows-racial-block-voting,0,1035205.story
Jan 20 2012
CA
Schools look at possibility of moving to a by-district election system.
Analysis of three Glendale City Council elections during the last
decade show some patterns of racially polarized voting and possible
violations of the California Voting Rights Act, according to a
consulting firm hired to collect and decipher the data.
Glendale Community College and the Glendale Unified School District
in November jointly commissioned Redistricting Partners to conduct
a $35,000 study to determine whether they should move from their
current at-large election process to a district system.
In the 2003 Glendale City Council race, Latino candidate Gus Gomez
garnered 94% of the Latino vote, far outstripping his city-wide
support of 23.7%, said Kimi Shigetani, vice president of the Community
College League of California who presented the data on behalf of
Redistricting Partners.
"The white voters within Glendale had a 9% support rate [of Gomez], so
this demonstrates polarized voting with the Latino population heavily
in support and the white population supporting the other candidate,"
Shigetani said.
Analysis of support for non-Armenian white candidates in the 2005
city council race show that the Latino and Armenian voters supported
non-Armenian white candidates at a rate of just 6%, Shigetani said.
And a breakdown of the 2011 races shows non-Armenian white city council
candidates John Drayman and Dave Weaver earning 55% support from
white voters, but just 9% support from Latino voters. Meanwhile, the
Armenian candidates for Glendale Community College Board of Trustees,
Vahe Peroomian and Vartan Gharpetian, drew 86% of votes among Armenian
voters, showing that Armenians tend to vote as a block for Armenian
candidates, Shigetani said.
The data is just a fraction of what the completed study will include,
Shigetani said, adding that analysis of multiple additional local
elections and state-wide ballot measures will be presented at a
special meeting on Feb. 9.
In at-large elections such as those in Glendale, candidates can run and
be elected regardless of their address within city, college district
or school district boundaries. In a district-based system, candidates
vie to represent specific geographic areas within those boundaries.
Passed in 2002, the California Voting Rights Act seeks to protect
the voting clout of minority groups by mandating a switch to a
district-based system in elections where the at-large process dilutes
their vote.
In September, voters in the Cerritos Community College district sued
to force the issue, saying its at-large structure diluted the Latino
vote. Representatives from the Community College League of California
and the consulting firm Redistricting Partners have warned Glendale
education officials that additional lawsuits could be forthcoming.
Further, a new state law gives community colleges the chance to
switch to a district system within a specific time frame without
putting the issue before voters, avoiding a potentially costly and
protracted approval process, they said.
A study of voting patterns would allow both the college and the
K-12 district to determine whether they should consider a change;
and if not, would provide them with evidence to defend against any
potential lawsuits, representatives from the Community College League
of California and Redistricting Partners said.
But several Glendale Community College trustees expressed skepticism
about the early findings, questioning everything from the elections
that were analyzed to the statistical significance of the numbers.
"I would be very afraid of reaching conclusions based on these numbers
that say that these trends actually make sense," trustee Vahe Peroomian
said. "Also, I think our city has changed quite a bit in nine years
since the 2003 elections. We have a successful Latino candidate that is
currently on the city council so I don't see why that is not included."
Others said that they want to see voting data more specific to the
college and K-12 school districts.
"We want to get to a real understanding if there is true polarization
here," trustee Tony Tartaglia said. "My concern is that we are getting
some conjecture and some opinions rather than factual information."