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The City of Hayward made available for public review on Tuesday maps of potential legislative districts as the City moves to a system of elections in which all Council members except the mayor will be elected from geographic districts rather than in at-large citywide contests.
The draft legislative district maps, available here, were drawn by a demographer after taking into account the demographic makeup of Hayward and public input on populations that should be included in a single district for the purposes of effective and fair representation.
The process by which the City is moving to district elections for Council is provided for under the California Voting Rights Act. It is being carried out pursuant to the settlement of a lawsuit contending Hayward’s at-large system of elections for Council unlawfully dilutes the voting power of Asian Americans.
Under the settlement agreement, the change would take full effect starting in November 2026 when two of six non-mayoral seats on Hayward’s seven-member Council are scheduled to be up for election followed by the remaining four non-mayoral seats in November 2028. Elections for mayor will remain at-large. Elected terms of office of all Council seats will remain at four years.
Under the settlement agreement, an ordinance establishing Hayward’s six Council districts must be adopted by Oct. 14. The legislation also will establish which Council districts seats will come up for election in 2026 and which will be up in 2028.
To meet these deadlines, the City has established a schedule of final hearings, deadlines to submit public comment and meetings of the City Council that is available here. Final adoption of the ordinance enacting district elections for Council is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 8. |
