City of Galt moving to five election districts

Galt residents will not be selecting a mayor in future elections.

The Galt City Council on Tuesday directed staff and consulting firm Redistricting Partners to draft maps with five election districts and present the final renderings at the March 4 meeting.

The maps are part of answer to a letter the city received in August claiming Galt’s current at-large system of voting dilutes the ability of Latino voters to elect candidates of their choice or to otherwise influence the outcome of an election.

The letter, drafted by the Shenkman & Hughes law firm on behalf of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, also claimed the at-large elections violate the California Voting Rights Act, which became law in 2003 and attempts to prevent the disenfranchisement of protected classes. A protected class, staff said, is comprised of voters who are members of a race, color, or language minority group.




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