Prop 11 Passes

weslinder · Nov 9, 2008

With all the distraction with Prop 8, Californians won a real victory for democracy. Without the Governator beating his chest about it, I would have never known.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/12/EDV812RJMK.DTL

Why Californians should support Prop. 11

Friday, September 12, 2008

A vote for Proposition 11 is a vote for democracy itself.

It would end a very undemocratic process in which state legislators are allowed to draw their own political boundaries. In other words, politicians are allowed to choose their own voters - and, with the help of computer technology, they do it with brutal efficiency. It helps explain why 99 percent of state legislators and members of Congress were re-elected in the past decade.

Prop. 11 would replace this self-serving system with a 14-member independent commission that would be guided by specific criteria designed to protect the best interest of communities - rather than the best interests of individual politicians - when political boundaries are redrawn every 10 years.

It would impose the types of redistricting guidelines that good-government groups have been advocating for years: It would emphasize keeping voters from cities and counties and "communities of interest" in the same districts, instead of allowing the 120 legislative districts to be sliced up and contorted to protect a particular politician or party.

The measure would apply to the state offices of Assembly, Senate and Board of Equalization. Our main regret with Prop. 11 is that it does not include the drawing of congressional seats, which would remain with the state Legislature. The reason for the exclusion of the U.S. House of Representatives was strategic: Speaker Nancy Pelosi made it clear that she would fight any attempt to take the drawing of political districts away from legislators in this heavily Democratic state. Many House Republicans have been equally wary of removing political control of a process that protects incumbents of both parties.

Advocates of Prop. 11 - a coalition led by the League of Women Voters, Common Cause, AARP and the American Civil Liberties Union - were willing to start with redistricting reform at the state level. It's important to note that legislators will be required to follow the Prop. 11 criteria when they draw the lines for federal offices - and, if they don't, those districts could be subject to legal challenge.

Of course, no one would expect the politicians in power to cede it without a fight. Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata has been shaking down his colleagues and Sacramento special interests to help fund the opposition. The No on 11 campaign has been almost breathtakingly disingenuous, starting with its slogan, "Stop the power grab." It also has been trying to stir up fears that the measure is a right-wing conspiracy and would disadvantage minority groups.

Neither argument stands up to scrutiny. It was drafted by groups with long track records of nonpartisan good-government advocacy. Its bipartisan supporters include leading Democrats such as former Gov. Gray Davis and former state Controller Steve Westly.

The history of redistricting suggests that minorities fare worse when politicians in power are looking out for each other. Studies have shown that minorities have made the most gains in legislative seats when redistricting when courts took redistricting out of the hands of the Legislature after the 1970 and 1990 censuses. After the 2000 census, legislators carved up minority communities in Long Beach, Fresno, San Diego, San Jose and the San Gabriel Valley as part of their schemes to protect incumbents.

More than anything, opponents of Prop. 11 are exploiting fear of the unknown. They are openly appealing to Democrats with the message that essentially says: "Even if the process isn't fair or democratic, we control it, so we benefit." But that is not necessarily so, as some savvy Democrats and Republicans have noted. The current redistricting system produces political deals that protect incumbents of both parties. Democrats in this growing blue state could actually benefit from a more honest process.

The way to end the power grab is to vote yes on Prop. 11.
About Proposition 11

What it does: It creates an independent commission to draw district boundaries for the state Senate, state Assembly and Board of Equalization after each decennial census.

Why it's needed: Under the current system, state legislators draw the districts, a clear conflict of interest. The result are "incumbent protection plans" in which politicians essentially get to choose their voters.

Who drafted it: Prop. 11 represents a collaboration of nonpartisan groups that were concerned about the corrosive effect of politician-controlled redistricting on our democratic process. The main organizations pushing for the measure are the League of Women Voters, Common Cause, AARP and the American Civil Liberties Union.

How it works: A 14-member citizens commission would be created to draw the political boundaries. It would consist of 5 Democrats, 5 Republicans and 4 others. Prospective members would be subject to strict conflict-of-interest guidelines. The commission would be required to hold open hearings for public input.

What are the criteria: Commission members would not be allowed to consider incumbent residences or impact on political parties when drawing the lines. Instead, they would be required to follow these criteria, in this order: Adherence with the U.S. Constitution, including equal population requirements; compliance with the Voting Rights Act, to protect the interest of minority voters; geographic contiguity of districts; respect for the need to keep cities, counties and "communities of interest" in the same district; compactness of districts; "nesting" of districts so that the 80 Assembly districts are aligned with the 40 Senate districts to the extent possible.

When it would take effect: After the census is completed in 2011.
Click to expand...

With all due respect to homosexuals and homophobes out there, this is many, many times more important.

Invisible Fan · Nov 9, 2008

This is great news. The state Congress has become fairly comfortable and entrenched and it could be one of Ahnuld's few bright spots in an otherwise contentious and mediocre governorship that promised change.

Oski2005 · Nov 9, 2008

I think we already lost that battle in Texas.

rocketsjudoka · Nov 9, 2008

Interesting and I agree that in the long run this is probably more important than Prop 8 but, pardon the pun, redistricting isn't as sexy as gay marriage.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out and if this translates to other states.

Forums

Prop 11 Passes

weslinder Member

Invisible Fan Member

Oski2005 Member

rocketsjudoka Member

Share This Page

About ClutchFans

Rockets Content

Support ClutchFans!