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1. What qualifications are needed to run for a district council seat?

A candidate must be a registered voter of the City of Menlo Park and must reside in the district they are running for at the time nomination papers are issued to the candidate. (Government Code § 34882.)

2. After a councilmember is elected to a district seat, may the councilmember move out of the district?

If the councilmember moves out of the district, they must vacate their City Council seat. (Government Code § 34882.)

3. What are the Federal and California Voting Rights Acts?

The Federal Voting Rights Act (FVRA) was adopted in 1965 and is intended to protect the rights of all citizens to participate in the voting process. The CVRA was passed in the California State Legislature in 2001, based on the Legislature’s belief that minorities and other members of protected classes were being denied the opportunity to have representation of their choosing at the local level because of a number of issues associated with at-large elections. Upon a finding of a violation of the CVRA, the act requires that “the court shall implement appropriate remedies, including the imposition of district-based elections that are tailored to remedy the violation.” As such, the default remedy and the clearly identified remedy by the Legislature is district-based elections.

Read more about the FVRA, the CVRA and CVRA Safe Harbor information.

4. What are by-district elections?

A by-district election process means voters within a designated City Council electoral district elect one City Council member who must also reside in and be a registered voter of that district.

5. What are communities of interest?

A community of interest is a neighborhood or community that would benefit from being in the same district because of shared interest, view or characteristics. Possible community features or boundary definitions include:

• School attendance areas
• Natural neighborhood dividing lines such as roads, hills or highways
• Areas around parks and other landmarks
• City borders
• Common issues, neighborhood activities or legislative/election concerns
• Shared demographic characteristics, such as:
• Similar levels of income, education or linguistic isolation;
• Ancestry (not race or ethnicity)
• Languages spoken at home
• Percentage of immigrants
• Single-family and multifamily housing units