Districting Information

Districting Overview

In June 2016, the City of San Juan Capistrano's "at-large" system for electing City Council Members changed to a "by-district" system. This change means that on Election Day, voters will only vote for the candidate running in the district in which they live.

After a series of community meetings and public hearings, the City Council on June 21, 2016, adopted the City's first districting map and election sequence for the November 8, 2016, election (Districts 1 and 5) and November 2018, election (Districts 2, 3 and 4).

Interactive Map

On the interactive districting map, residents can search using their address to identify which district they reside in: Community View Map - San Juan Capistrano Districts.

Final Adopted Document

Ordinance 1035 (PDF)

History of Districting Process

On February 16, 2016, the City Council authorized staff to commence the process to transition from at-large elections to by-district elections consisting of 5 districts beginning with the November 2016 election. To assist with the transition, the City contracted with Q2 Data and Research, LLC, to perform the demographic services and Orange County Translation Services for interpreting.

To encourage community involvement, a community outreach plan was developed to ensure all residents had the opportunity to participate. The plan included three public community meetings, a dedicated districting webpage, press releases, city-wide mailing, newspaper ads and collaboration with local organizations actively involved throughout the community.

During the community meetings, the City's demographer presented residents with an overview of the districting process and criteria, time to talk to the consultants and fellow residents before providing input and engaging in "live" map drawing. During the second community meeting, the first working draft of the district map was created based on input from meeting participants and written comments received. This first working draft was circulated to the community through press releases, newspaper ads, city-wide mailer and notifications to local organizations.

On May 18, 2016, the City Council held its first public hearing to review the first working draft of the district map. The City Council and community provided additional feedback that was later presented at a third and final community meeting.

During the third community meeting, the draft map was further built upon and a final draft of the district boundaries was created for City Council consideration.

On June 6, 2016, the City Council held a Public Hearing to adopt the publicly created districting map and introduced the ordinance that would adopt the by-district election system and district boundaries. On June 21, 2016, the City Council held the final Public Hearing and adopted the ordinance for the by-district election system and district boundaries.

Meeting Videos

• Districting Community Outreach Meeting of May 4, 2016
• Districting Community Outreach Meeting of May 7, 2016
• City Council Public Hearing of May 18, 2016
• Districting Community Outreach Meeting of June 1, 2016
• City Council Public Hearing of June 6, 2016
• City Council Public Hearing of June 21, 2016

Additional Information

Please contact the City Clerk's office with any questions regarding Districts: email the City Clerk or call 949-443-6308.