City of Norco, CA
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District-Based Elections
The City of Norco utilizes and at-large election system in which registered voters from the entire City choose each of the five City Council Members.
2024 Information
On April 11, 2024, the City of Norco received a letter from the law firm of Shenkman & Hughes, representing the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project. The letter asserts that voting within the city is racially polarized and alleges that the current at-large election system is in violation of the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA). The letter further asserts that an at-large election system results in minority vote dilution and requests that the City voluntarily change to a district-based election system, while threatening litigation if a district-based election system is not implemented.
The City of Norco currently utilizes an at-large election system in which registered voters from the entire city choose each of the five City Council Members. In an at-large election system, candidates may reside anywhere in the City and all registered voters vote for all Council Members. In a district-based election system, the city is divided into separate geographic districts, each with one City Council Member who resides in the district and is chosen solely by the voters residing in that specific district.
The April 2024 letter is a follow up to a previous letter from Shenkman & Hughes received in October 2017, which included the same assertions and requests. From October 2017 to May 2018, the Norco City Council conducted demographic analyses, considered establishing district-based elections for City Council Members, and ultimately chose to retain the current at-large election system.
The Norco City Council will work with legal counsel to assess the claims in the April 2024 letter and determine next steps.