Residents sue City of Fullerton over lack of voting opportunities for Asian Americans

The City of Fullerton was sued Wednesday, March 18, over an at-large election system that Asian-American advocates say harms a certain community’s voting rights.

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California (ACLU SoCal), Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles (Advancing Justice – LA), the Law Office of Robert Rubin, and Sidley Austin, LLP jointly sued the city on Wednesday for violating the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA), which prevents cities from imposing at-large elections that deny minority groups the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice, or influence the outcome of elections. It also makes it easier for these communities to prove their votes are being diluted.

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of Korean-American Jonathan Paik, a community representative of Fullerton’s sizeable Asian-American population, alleging that the city’s current at-large system for electing council members “denies large segments of the community—especially Asian-Americans—a voice in how their city is governed.”

ACLU SoCal said that it sued Fullerton—which is home to about 135,000 people and one of the largest California cities to use at-large elections—on behalf of Paik.

“We are asking the city of Fullerton to implement elections that make sure that all communities, including the Asian American community, have an opportunity to elect candidates of their choice and that the city council is responsible to the needs of all Fullerton residents, said Belinda Escobosa Helzer, director of the Orange County and Inland Empire offices of the ACLU SoCal.

“No one wins when some residents are shut out of government,” she said, adding that Asian-Americans should have a say in key issues such as educational programs and city development.

Under Fullerton’s at-large election system, all five city council members are elected by every voter in the city, regardless of where the candidate and voter live—a system which often results in members who are unaccountable to many of the ethnic communities they purport to represent. Principally, voters anywhere in the city can vote for any council candidate.

District elections, like those recently adopted in nearby Anaheim, would require each of the council members to live in the district they represent and to be elected by voters in that district, providing all voting residents, especially minority communities, with government representatives who are knowledgeable and responsible to their specific concerns.

“Almost one four eligible voters in Fullerton is Asian American, yet despite their sizeable numbers, no Asian Americans currently serves on the city council,” said Deanna Kitamura, a senior staff attorney at Advancing Justice – LA. “Asian American candidates, who have run for office and enjoyed widespread support from the Asian American community, have been consistently defeated under the at-large voting system, denying the community meaningful and fair representation in the city.”

Last summer, a Latino former city council candidate, Vivian Jamarillo, filed a suit claiming that the city’s at-large voting system “impairs the ability of certain races to elect candidates of their choice or influence the outcome of elections conducted in Fullerton.”

Currently, Asian Americans make up 23 percent of the city and 20.9 percent of those eligible to vote (Korean-Americans are at 12 percent; Chinese, Filipino, and South Asian Americans each make up 3 percent), yet no Asians serve on the city council, the complaint filed by the ACLU and Advancing Justice – LA argues.

“This overall absence of any Asian American representatives on the Council, despite the fact that they were the preferred candidate of Asian American voters, reveals the lack of meaningful access for Asian Americans to the political process in Fullerton,” the complaint reads.

Citing a number of prejudiced incidents, the joint complaint contends that disparities in socioeconomic status, language barrier, and a history of racial discrimination against the Asian American community further impacts their voting strength.

“Asian American voters long to participate in Fullerton’s city government, but the current at-large system prevents that by diluting our power at the ballot box,” said Paik, the plaintiff in the case. “We join with other voices in our community in calling for a change that provides all residents in this city an opportunity to have a seat at the table.”

(With reports from Associated Press, OC Register, VoiceofOC.org)

(www.asianjournal.news)
(OCIE March 20-26, 2015 Sec. A pg.1)