Court of Appeal Decision in Yumori-Kaku et al. v. City of Santa Clara The City of Santa Clara’s method of electing city council members at-large — in which each council member is elected by all City voters — violated the California Voting Rights Act, a California appellate court held late last year. The Sixth District Court of Appeal held that the remedy requiring the City to transition to district-based city council elections did not violate the Equal Protection Clause. It determined that the CVRA continues to apply to charter cities and does not impinge on their plenary authority to control the manner of electing their officers. Lastly, the court affirmed the trial court’s award of more than $3 million in attorneys’ fees and costs to the plaintiffs and also granted plaintiffs costs on appeal.