The California Redistricting Commission Must Succeed

By Hilbert Morales - El Observador

If you believe that you are qualified to be one of the 14 California Redistricting Commission members, you must submit your application to the CA State Auditor's Office before the February 12, 2010 deadline.
According to Mountain View's Wendy T. Padgett, Ph.D., "The applicants for the Redistricting Commission are a far cry from being truly representative of California's population. Hispanics must be encouraged to submit their applications."
The available information reveals that 80 percent of all applicants are Whites; 73 percent are males; only 8 percent are Hispanic; and one of three of those Hispanics live in the Sacramento area. This is viewed by many as an example of why this "reform redistricting approach" advanced by Governor Schwarzenegger and Commonwealth Cause is turning into a gigantic failure. During the 2008 election, opponents of the redistricting initiative (Proposition 11) warned that the California Redistricting Commission, which is administered by the California State Auditor's Office, was destined to lack diversity because of the way it was structured. At present there is no sign of inclusive diversity.
According to Mike Potter, a San Jose historical buff, one needs to go back to the redistricting efforts following the 1990 Census to view the gerrymandering that occurred. Then CA State Assembly efforts to correct the redistricting efforts following the 2000 Census were not accepted by the California Supreme Court, who ruled the Assembly to "have a conflict of interest". So the redistricting was performed under court supervision. Now we have a 'citizens commission' to which the applicant pool is simply not representative of the demographic makeup of California. What is being attempted is an effort to perform the required redistricting without any influence by any member of the State Assembly, though its monitoring group will look over the shoulders of the redistricting commission.
Steven Maglio (The California Majority Report) writes, "To put it bluntly, there is no sign of diversity in the applications that are coming into the CA State Auditor's Office. The applicant pool has only 8.2 percent Hispanic applicants; 4.37 percent African-Americans; and 3.6 percent Asian Americans. These numbers are way below the populations they represent in our state."
Maglio states, "And it is not just the ethnic and racial diversity where there are problems. Other troubling signs are that 42.7 percent of the applicants are Democrats; 40.1 percent are Republicans and just 13.1 percent are from the 'decline to state' voters. These numbers do not reflect the composition of this state's electorate. (Note: Proposition 11 gave an even share of seats on the CA Redistricting Commission to Republicans and Democrats even though there are far fewer Republicans).
In addition, there are problems with geography. Some 32.5 percent of the applicant pool is from Northern Central Valley/Mountain area (mainly Sacramento) while just 29.9 percent are from the greater Los Angeles area (where the largest proportion of Hispanics reside).
Here is an opportunity for qualified and interested individuals to step up to become involved in a historical attempt to 'draw the lines' in a manner that promotes democracy. Currently, an elected official, as an incumbent, has a very large advantage because too many districts are drawn to favor one party over another resulting in a 90 percent re-election success rate. The outcome of disparate representation within a district is that the voters become disengaged because of their perception that their vote will not matter. This results in an electorate which 'gives up' its voting power because of a 'what's the use' attitude. The resulting disenfranchisement is not good for participative democracy where each voter has a sense that his/her vote counts and matters. All persuasions are affected by this view...especially the Republican Party which cannot mount effective election competition in too many districts today.
This is the daunting challenge today. Will enough members of ethnic groups, especially Hispanics, submit their applications to permit an equitable representation on the California Redistricting Commission? All who are qualified are encouraged to do so. The 14 selected commissioners will be given the responsibility and challenge to redistrict California in a manner that promotes the concept of 'one person-one vote'. Representative democracy does not work without an electorate that knows it is an influential stakeholder. The goal is 'fair' elections of all elected officials who deal with the people's business.
The members of the California Redistricting Commission will be paid. Have no doubt that each will be subject to pressures from special interests. Nonetheless, these rigorously vetted individuals must step up to do this mandated task to ensure that for the next ten years, each of our votes is fair and equitable. Success will result when an election opponent has a reasonable chance to unseat an incumbent. This California Redistricting Commission must succeed in making each vote count.
If interested the application deadline is February 12, 2010. The California State Auditor's Office may be reached for official information at 1-866-356-5217 and online at www.wedrawtheline.ca.gov. ∆