Front Page

April 4, 2008

By Darleen Principe

Semi Valley Acorn

Group says plan will put a stop to gerrymandering

Initiative requires that all state district lines are drawn according to rules

In an effort to end political gerrymandering, a newly introduced California Voters First redistricting initiative, if passed this November, will create a commission to draw fair electoral district lines for the state Assembly, Senate and Board of Equalization.

The commission, which would be open to all California voters who meet basic requirements and have no conflicts of interest, would be made up of five Democrats, five Republicans and four others, said Kathy Feng, a coauthor of the initiative.

"After the census, in 2001, gerrymanders were drawn," Feng said. "You can see how wiggly the lines are. It's because an incumbent was trying to draw themselves into a district, or draw challengers outside of a district. This happened up and down the whole state."

Feng, executive director of California Common Cause, a nonpartisan, nonprofit political advocacy organization, presented California Voters First on Wednesday night during a meeting at the Simi Valley Library hosted by the local chapter of the California Association of Political Centrists.

Currently, the California Voters First committee, which is chaired by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, hopes to gather 1 million signatures by May 1 and get the initiative on the November 2008 ballot.

Feng said they currently have about onethird of the signatures required.

Still, she estimates that if the initiative is passed in November, the California Voters First Act would go into effect immediately.

According to the act, a person interested in applying for a position on the commission must be a California voter registered with the same affiliation for the last five years, and must have voted in two of the last three statewide general elections.

A review panel established by the state auditor would then begin the applicant screening process, Feng said.

Once established, the commission would meet through an open hearing process, giving the public a minimum of 14 days' notice before meetings and restricting all offtherecord or exparte communications.

" Redistricting happens every 10 years," Feng said. "There are about six months' worth of hearings. But come to find out, after those six months of hearings, all (district) lines are drawn behind closed doors over the course of two weeks.

"So we thought, 'How can we make this a lot more fair? How can we level the playing field as opposed to allowing for the selfinterest of particular incumbents?"

The solution, Feng said, was California Voters First, which requires that all state district lines are drawn according to clear mapping rules: equal population among districts; respect for the Voting Rights Act; and respect for counties, cities and communities of interest.

The initiative has already received endorsements from the California Republican Assembly, IndependentVoice and the Southern California ACLU.

For more information on the initiative or to request petitions, visit www.CaVotersFIRST.org or call (916) 443-1792.