College of the Canyons is reviewing its election process to determine if it blocks minorities or special-interest groups from serving on the governing board of the Santa Clarita Valley's only community college, officials said this week.

The Santa Clarita Community College District, which manages College of the Canyons, currently holds at-large elections. The five trustees are elected to specific seats, but the seats do not represent a specific local neighborhood of the 250,000-resident Santa Clarita Valley.

Across California, publicly elected government agencies have faced lawsuits for violations known as "racially polarized voting" as part of the 2002 California Voting Rights Act.

On the recommendation of the Community College League of California, College of the Canyons is joining other community colleges to make sure its election process is fair.

"Because there's a potential risk from litigation, I think what we're doing is erring on the side of caution by doing this analysis," Assistant Superintendent Sharlene Coleal said.

The study will look at the 2010 U.S. Census data for the Santa Clarita Valley, past voting trends and how voting patterns may have changed with a different election process.

For the Santa Clarita Valley, the study will focus primarily on the growing Hispanic and Asian populations and whether they have equal access to the election process.

The analysis should be ready within a few months and will cost the community college $30,000. The college already spent $5,000 on a preliminary study.

If the study finds any concerns, COC may have to redraw its boundaries so that specific seats are tied to specific neighborhoods, Coleal said.

"At this point, it doesn't really look like we have an issue," she said.

Trustee Joan MacGregor voted not to conduct the study, saying it could have been delayed so that COC could share the cost with other local school districts.

"All of the districts in our valley are affected by the California Voting Rights Act in the same way," MacGregor said.