A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has upheld cumulative voting as a remedy for a lawsuit against Santa Clarita claiming the city violated the California Voting Rights Act, officials said Monday.

Judge Terry Green denied a motion brought forth by attorneys for the city of Santa Clarita, which contended city officials didn’t have the authority to enact the agreed-upon settlement terms of the lawsuit brought forth by two residents, Jim Soliz and Rosemarie Sanchez-Fraser, last June.

The suit claimed the city was in violation of the CVRA with its at-large elections that disenfranchised minority voters.

After a settlement conference, the city and Shenkman & Hughes, the firm representing the plaintiffs, eventually came to terms.

The end result will be that the two incumbents who would have been up for election in April 2016 — Councilmen TimBen Boydston and Bob Kellar — will be up for election November 2016.

Marsha McLean was the lone vote against the closed session vote.

Voters will still get three votes, however, the move to cumulative voting, or weighted voting, gives voters the opportunity to vote for one candidate up to three times.

Both changes are expected to increase voter turnout, part of how alleged violations of the California Voting Rights Act have been remedied in the past.

Cumulative voting is the predominate means of balloting used to select a board of directors in corporate America.

In dozens of communities where cumulative voting is used, it’s the result of lawsuits stemming from the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Fighting the lawsuit “would be very costly to the city,” costing more than $1.5 million, according to city attorney Joe Montes in a statement read before Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

The attorney’s fees for the plaintiffs will be paid by Santa Clarita, which is expected to range between $400-600,000.

The settlement followed a six-hour negotiation, according to court documents.

The city of Santa Clarita is set to move City Council elections to even-numbered years and employ cumulative voting.

The decision to approve the lawsuit with a 4-1 vote, was made in closed session and announced at a March 11 City Council meeting.

City of Palmdale officials were recently ordered to pay more than $ 3 million to the same firm suing Santa Clarita, in a case regarding claims of a California Voting Rights Act.

Palmdale officials requested a state Supreme Court appeal of their loss, which was denied.

City of Palmdale officials have said the city will continue to challenge the lawsuit with appeals on different grounds.