Under a district-based elections system, the City will be divided into equally populated districts. A candidate must reside within an election district and is elected only by voters living within that same election district. District elections will replace the current system of at-large citywide elections in which voters can vote for all City Councilmembers. The switch to district-based elections is a process that many cities in California are undergoing to meet the standards of the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) of 2001. The CVRA gave more robust legal backing to minority groups in California who have expressed that "at-large" elections have diluted their voting rights.
In the City of Dublin, the City Council is reponsible for approving the final map of district boundaries.