Proposition 27: Eliminate State Commission on Redistricting

From Mobilize the Immigrant Vote

What is it?

Our state is divided into geographical areas called legislative districts. Voters who live inside each district elect officials to represent them in the State Legislature and the U.S. Congress. Every 10 years, information from the census about changes in population is used to re-draw the district boundary lines. This process is called redistricting. In the past, district lines have been drawn by elected officials in the State Legislature. One criticism of that process is that many districts were drawn to be made up overwhelmingly of voters who belong to one political party, concentrating electoral power for that political party in certain areas.

After the passage of the Voters First Act (approved by 50.9% of voters as Proposition 11 in November 2008) the responsibility for drawing district lines for the State Assembly and State Senate was taken away from elected officials in the State Legislature and given to a new Citizens Redistricting Commission. Proposition 11 also changed some of the rules for establishing districts, discouraging the splitting up of cities or counties during redistricting. The Citizens Redistricting Commission is currently being selected to begin the redistricting process after the 2010 Census.

If it passes, Prop 27 will eliminate the Citizens Redistricting Commission, and responsibility for redrawing district boundaries will return to the hands of elected officials in the State Legislature. It would require populations of all districts for the same office to be exactly the same. Prop 27 will also create a mechanism for voters to reject the new districts through a referendum process.

This ballot initiative competes with Proposition 20, which seeks to expand authority of the Citizens Redistricting Commission. If both propositions are approved, only the one with the highest number of votes will go into effect. If both propositions fail, neither will be implemented.

MIV Analysis

Although MIV agrees that redistricting reform could make the process more fair, we recommended a “No” vote on Proposition 11 in November 2008 because we felt that it did not do enough to guarantee that people of color, women, and low-income communities would be adequately represented in the new redistricting process. We also felt that the new rules did not adequately ensure that immigrant and people of color communities’ voting rights would be protected, creating the risk that our communities would be divided into different districts, diluting our voting power.

Those same concerns stand as the new Redistricting Commission selection is underway. Although the 120 semi-finalists still being considered when this analysis was finalized reflects the race and ethnic population of our State, the initial pool of over 4,500 applicants did not reflect California's population. There is also no guarantee that the final commission will reflect California's population in terms of race and ethnicity. Additionally, the median household income in California is $61,000/year, with most household earning far below that. 80% of semi-finalists for the Commission earn over $75,000/year.

If Prop 27 passes, the Legislature would still be in charge of a process they stand to benefit from. MIV is also concerned that the provisions which require that populations in similar districts be exactly the same size poses a threat to immigrant and people of color communities, by dividing them amongst different districts and diluting their political power. While redistricting reform is needed to make the process more fair, MIV believes that neither the existing legislative process nor the new Redistricting Commission as it stands address true representation of people of color, women, and low-income communities.

Supporters and Opponents

Key Supporters include Congressman Howard Berman, Hank Lacayo, President of Congress of California Seniors & Carl Pope, Chairman of the Sierra Club

Key Opponents include the League of Women Voters, Gary Toebben, President Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, California Common Cause

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Paid for by We Are California, sponsored committee of Mobilize the Immigrant Vote and Partnership for Immigrant Leadership and Action. 4100 Redwood Rd, Ste 10 #145, Oakland, CA 94619. FPPC# 1332307.