The Arcadia City currently utilizes a district-based election system in which the city is divided into separate geographic districts, each with one City Council Member who resides in the district and is chosen by the electors residing in that district.
The Federal Voting Rights Act (“FVRA”) requires districts to contain essentially equal total populations. Small population deviations are permitted if they are necessary to achieve what the U.S. Supreme Court has labeled "traditional redistricting principles." These principles include: maintaining communities of interest; creating compact, contiguous districts; or using visible natural or manmade boundaries. A community of interest is a neighborhood or community that would benefit from being maintained in a single district because of shared interests, views, or characteristics.
Public input is vital to the drawing of district boundaries.
