---
type: "Bill"
title: "District-based elections."
description: "The California Voting Rights Act of 2001 (CVRA) prohibits the use of an at-large election in a political subdivision if it would impair the ability of a protected class, as defined, to elect candidates of its choice or otherwise influence the outcome of an election. The CVRA permits a voter who is a member of a protected class to bring an action in superior court to enforce the provisions of the CVRA. Before commencing an action, existing law requires a prospective plaintiff to send a written notice to the political subdivision asserting that the political subdivision's method of conducting elections may violate the CVRA. If the political subdivision passes a resolution outlining its intention to transition to district-based elections within a specified time, existing law prohibits the prospective plaintiff from commencing an action within 90 days of the resolution's passage."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20172018"
identifier: "AB 2123"
citation: "California AB 2123 (20172018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["District-based elections."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Cervantes"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 24
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2018-02-08"
last_action: "2018-09-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a14b729c-b49c-43cb-b218-24b7849133c3"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2123"
source_hash: "7bbbed23c3165972851ac8f5746b3a920100e993be8f9f4bff3444b209de2eeb"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 2123 (20172018) — District-based elections.

The California Voting Rights Act of 2001 (CVRA) prohibits the use of an at-large election in a political subdivision if it would impair the ability of a protected class, as defined, to elect candidates of its choice or otherwise influence the outcome of an election. The CVRA permits a voter who is a member of a protected class to bring an action in superior court to enforce the provisions of the CVRA. Before commencing an action, existing law requires a prospective plaintiff to send a written notice to the political subdivision asserting that the political subdivision's method of conducting elections may violate the CVRA. If the political subdivision passes a resolution outlining its intention to transition to district-based elections within a specified time, existing law prohibits the prospective plaintiff from commencing an action within 90 days of the resolution's passage.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/08/18 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2123&version=20170AB212399INT)
2. **03/20/18 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2123&version=20170AB212398AMD)
3. **04/02/18 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2123&version=20170AB212397AMD)
4. **04/17/18 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2123&version=20170AB212396AMD)
5. **09/06/18 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2123&version=20170AB212394CHP)
6. **AB2123** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2123)
7. **08/22/18 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2123&version=20170AB212395ENR)

## Votes

- AB 2123 CERVANTES Assembly Third Reading — **60–3** (pass) · lower
- Do pass — **6–1** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary] — **6–1** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. — **9–1** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading AB2123 Cervantes By Cannella — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary] — **5–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Cervantes — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2018-02-08** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2018-02-09** From printer. May be heard in committee March 11.
- **2018-03-19** Referred to Coms. on E. & R. and JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2018-03-20** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on E. & R. Read second time and amended. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2018-03-21** Re-referred to Com. on E. & R. `referral-committee`
- **2018-04-02** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on E. & R. Read second time and amended. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2018-04-03** Re-referred to Com. on E. & R. `referral-committee`
- **2018-04-16** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 6. Noes 1.) (April 11). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, amendment-introduction`
- **2018-04-17** Read second time and amended. `reading-1, amendment-passage, reading-2`
- **2018-04-18** Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2018-05-01** In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
- **2018-05-08** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 9. Noes 1.) (May 8). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2018-05-09** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2018-05-10** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 60. Noes 3. Page 5128.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2018-05-10** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2018-05-24** Referred to Coms. on E. & C.A. and JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2018-06-20** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (June 19). Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2018-07-03** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 1.) (July 3). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2018-07-05** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2018-08-20** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 5438.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2018-08-20** In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling. `committee-passage`
- **2018-08-24** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4:30 p.m.
- **2018-09-06** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2018-09-06** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 277, Statutes of 2018.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a14b729c-b49c-43cb-b218-24b7849133c3`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).