(a) Following or concurrent with the decision to establish district-based elections for a legislative body, or following each federal decennial census for a legislative body that is already elected using district-based elections, the districting body shall, by ordinance or resolution, adopt boundaries for all of the election districts of the legislative body so that the election districts shall be substantially equal in population as required by the United States Constitution. (1) Population equality shall be based on the total population of residents of the local jurisdiction as determined by the most recent federal decennial census for which the redistricting data described in Public Law 94-171 are available. (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), an incarcerated person, as that term is used in Section 21003, shall not be counted towards a local jurisdictionâs population, except for an incarcerated person whose last known place of residence may be assigned to a census block in the local jurisdiction, if information about the last known place of residence for incarcerated persons is included in the computerized database for redistricting that is developed in accordance with subdivision (b) of Section 8253 of the Government Code, and that database is made publicly available. (b) The districting body shall adopt election district boundaries that comply with the United States Constitution, the California Constitution, and the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. Sec. 10301 et seq.). (1) Consistent with the districting bodyâs existing obligations under the federal Voting Rights Act, the districting body shall determine whether it is possible to create an election district or districts in which a minority group is sufficiently large and geographically compact to constitute a majority in a single-member district, as set forth in Thornburg v. Gingles, 478 U.S. 30 (1986), and as interpreted in case law regarding enforcement of the federal Voting Rights Act with respect to redistricting. The districting body shall publish on its redistricting web page, at a minimum, the results of its analysis within seven days of completing the analysis or prior to adopting election district boundaries, whichever occurs first. (2) If the districting body, consistent with its existing obligations under the federal Voting Rights Act, conducts an analysis to determine whether âracially polarized voting,â as defined in case law regarding enforcement of the federal Voting Rights Act, exists in the local jurisdiction, the districting body shall publish on its redistricting web page, at a minimum, a summary of its analysis and findings within seven days of completing the analysis or prior to adopting election district boundaries, whichever occurs first. (c) The districting body shall adopt election district boundaries using the following criteria as set forth in the following order of priority: (1) To the maximum extent practicable, election districts shall be geographically contiguous. Areas that meet only at the points of adjoining corners are not contiguous. Areas that are separated by water and not connected by a bridge, tunnel, or regular ferry service are not contiguous. (2) To the maximum extent practicable, and where it does not conflict with the preceding criterion in this subdivision, the geographic integrity of any local neighborhood or local community of interest shall be respected in a manner that minimizes its division. A âcommunity of interestâ is a population that shares common social or economic interests that should be included within a single election district for purposes of its effective and fair representation. Characteristics of communities of interest may include, but are not limited to, shared public policy concerns such as education, public safety, public health, environment, housing, transportation, and access to social services. Characteristics of communities of interest may also include, but are not limited to, c
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