Orange County Line
Are Asian American Voters in Orange County Disenfranchised?
District election lawsuit against Santa Ana by advocacy group says yes.
In April, the advocacy group Asian Americans Advancing Justice–Los Angeles filed a lawsuit against the city of Santa Ana, alleging its at-large system disenfranchises Asian American voters in the city. It had previously sued Fullerton into accepting district elections. The claims by AAAJ might come as a surprise to outsiders, considering Orange County's long history of electing Asian American politicians. Fountain Valley elected one of the nation's first Japanese-American mayors in the 1950s, while La Palma elected the nation's first Thai-American mayor earlier this decade. Meanwhile, the Board of Supervisors is majority Asian. But does AAAJ have a point?