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City Council Ward Boundaries Map <br />April 5, 2022 <br />Page 2 <br />providing live translations in Spanish and Vietnamese, with an additional six (6) <br />workshops requested by community groups. The City Council held twelve (12) in -person <br />and virtual redistricting public meetings, providing live translations in Spanish and <br />Vietnamese to seek input in selecting the next ward map. <br />Pursuant to Charter section 101.2, boundary alterations shall be made only by ordinance <br />adopted by affirmative vote of at least two-thirds (2/3) of the full membership of the City <br />Council. Following a robust, community -driven process and considerable City Council <br />consideration, the City Council voted on March 11, 2022 to introduce an ordinance to <br />adopt new City Council election ward map N2. Ward map N2 was posted on the City's <br />website on March 14, 2022. If necessary to facilitate the implementation of the ordinance, <br />the Clerk of the Council is authorized to make technical adjustments to the ward <br />boundaries that do not substantively affect the population in the wards, such as changing <br />the ward sequence. <br />The proposed order or sequence in which voters may vote for their representative will not <br />change. The contest for a City Councilmember in wards 2, 4, and 6 will appear on the <br />November 2022 ballot, and the contest for a City Councilmember in wards 1, 3, and 5 will <br />appear on the November 2024 ballot. <br />There are two relevant considerations when numbering newly drawn districts, or wards. <br />First, the Fair Maps Act requires that "[a]t the first election for council members in each <br />city following adoption of the boundaries of council districts ... a council member shall <br />be elected for each district under the new district plan that has the same district number <br />as a district whose incumbent's term is due to expire." Elec. Code § 21626(b). Second, a <br />best practice in numbering is to do so in a manner that limits the number of voters who <br />will be "deferred." Deferral is the unavoidable result when a jurisdiction with staggered <br />terms is redistricted. Deferral occurs when a voter who last voted in 2018 and would <br />naturally vote in 2022 under the old map (because they live in wards 2, 4, or 6) is redrawn <br />into a district that will instead not vote until 2024 (new districts 1, 3, or 5). That voter will <br />not be able to vote in 2022 and will go six years without voting in City Council elections, <br />instead of the usual four years. Although some deferral is inevitable, the proposed <br />sequence for ward map N2 reduces the number wards in a manner that minimizes <br />deferral and have the majority of residents remain in their current wards. A final map <br />needs to be adopted and all associated administrative tasks completed by the April 17, <br />2022 state -mandated deadline. <br />If the City Council makes further changes to a ward map plan prior to the ordinance <br />introduction, there will need to be an additional public hearing in order to satisfy the seven- <br />day map posting requirement required by the Fair Maps Act. Further delay to ordinance <br />introduction and adoption of resolution will impede staff's ability to complete all associated <br />administrative tasks and meet the mandated deadline to ensure the final map has been <br />accepted by the Orange County Election Official in time for the November 2022 election. <br />City Council 36 — 2 4/5/2022 <br />