Saugus Union School District officials approved a move to district-based elections Tuesday.

The Governing Board unanimously passed a resolution to change its voting system starting in November 2017.

“It is considered the view of the board that starting with the 2017 board elections, and with the benefit of the 2010 Federal Census data, the public interest will be better served by election of its board members using a ‘by-trustee area’ election system (i.e., elections in which one candidate residing in each trustee area is elected by only the registered voters in that particular trustee area),” according to the board’s agenda.

“The board also believes that ‘by-trustee area’ elections will reduce the district’s exposure to litigation pursuant to the CVRA, which provides a successful plaintiff the right to reasonable attorneys’ fees and expert witness fees, creating substantial financial risk to any school district sued,” according to district documents.

The move comes days after a lawsuit was filed by Jim Soliz, accusing the district’s at-large election to be in violation of the California Voting Rights Act.

A complaint filed last Tuesday by Soliz, who also sued the city and COC, seeks “injunctive relief requiring the SUSD to implement district-based elections or other alternative relief tailored to remedy SUSD’s violation of the CVRA.”

SUSD had been one of the only school districts locally that hadn’t changed its elections after several lawsuits challenging Santa Clarita Valley governing boards were sent out over CVRA violations, according to an attorney involved with the case.