City of Palm Desert
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For information about the November 8, 2022, General Municipal Election, please visit the City Clerk section of our website by clicking here.
City of Palm Desert General Municipal Elections are conducted in November of even-numbered years. The next scheduled election will be held November 8, 2022. The most recent prior election was held on November 3, 2020, and a copy of Resolution No. 2020-80 declaring the results is posted in the "Resources" section on the right-hand side of this page. Further, there is also a copy of the 2021 Notice of Annual Reorganization of the City Council.
In 2020, changes were made to the City's elections as a result of a legal settlement related to the California Voting Rights Act. The settlement created a new downtown district, comprising about 20% of the City's population, represented by one (1) elected City Council member, as well as a larger surrounding district, comprising about 80% of the population, from which four (4) Council members will be elected. The settlement also calls for the implementation of ranked-choice voting in both districts.
The new downtown district, which includes the Civic Center area and surrounding neighborhoods, helps fulfill longtime municipal goals identified in the City's Strategic and General Plans and will result in a more fully defined downtown Palm Desert. The downtown district aligns Palm Desert's electoral process with the California Voting Rights Act, ensuring that the voices and votes of all Palm Desert residents are heard and translate to meaningful representation.
Ranked choice voting, currently used by several other California cities, has been recognized as a way to help ensure that the candidate preferences of all voters are better reflected in election outcomes. Also known as an instant runoff, ranked choice voting gives voters the power to rank their candidates in order of preference. For more information, please visit our Engage Palm Desert page on this topic.
Please contact the City Clerk’s Office at 73510 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert, CA 92260, or by telephone at (760) 776-6304, with any general election questions.