PROP. 11: REFORM OR BOONDOGGLE? // Measure would end a system that effectively rigs elections

By Charlotte Fox

October 12, 2008

Redistricting is fundamental to making our government work better for the people of California. That is why, for a number of years, the League of Women Voters of California has made redistricting a top priority.

Three guiding points are crucial to create the best policy for changing the way legislative districts are drawn - an independent commission, an open and transparent process, and good mapping standards.

This year, voters have the last chance to make redistricting reform a reality by voting yes on Prop. 11 - a measure that meets all of those criteria - before the next census rolls around and districts are redrawn.

The League of Women Voters of California has supported this initiative from its early stages because the Legislature in Sacramento is broken and dysfunctional. The current system gives legislators the power to draw their own district lines, all but guaranteeing their own re-election. This makes them less accountable to us for addressing the issues we care about - health care, education and infrastructure, not to mention the state budget crisis.

While legislators may have their constituents' best interests in mind when they are elected to serve, it is all too easy for party politics and "inside baseball" to become the focus of their tenure in Sacramento. By establishing an independent redistricting commission with no direct ties or personal interests, Californians have a better opportunity to be well-served by their representatives.

Prop. 11 will put accountability into the system. This measure will end conflicts of interest by creating an independent commission composed of Democrats, Republicans and members of neither major party.

California needs what Prop. 11 offers: an open and transparent process that gives voters the opportunity to participate in the redistricting system. In today's process, the public's participation is limited and often ignored. Shouldn't the public have a strong voice in making these decisions, rather than leaving the task to the politicians themselves? Instead of staying connected in the same district, communities and neighborhoods are carved up into oddly shaped lines often at the expense of the people who live in them, so that some politicians can keep their seats.

Prop. 11's open and transparent process allows the media, interested parties and experts on the subject to have an opportunity to comment on reasons for and outcomes of the maps that define legislative districts.

Simply put, the closed-door, back-room deals that are part of the current process hurt voters while protecting incumbents. Prop. 11 will open the doors and let the public see into this process - and into their government.

While most of us can agree that California is in need of redistricting reform, we don't want to support something worse than the system we have today. Prop. 11 will move California in the right direction because it was carefully crafted by the League of Women Voters of California, AARP, California Common Cause, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, and other groups and associations through a collaborative, nonpartisan process that encouraged input from across the political spectrum.

Everything was considered and discussed before its inclusion in this reform - down to the designation of an unbiased and nonpartisan officeholder, the state auditor, to oversee the selection of the commission. Also, Prop. 11 uses strict criteria that will, for the first time, incorporate the federal Voting Rights Act into the constitution, protecting communities and ensuring that their voice can be heard - an assurance we do not have today.

The League of Women Voters of California asks you to stand up and be part of making a real change for our state. Join us in voting yes on Prop. 11 on Nov. 4.

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Charlotte Fox is on the board of directors of the League of Women voters of California.

Caption: ILLUSTRATION

Edition: ALL ZONES
Section: PERSPECTIVE
Page: E01
Index Terms: COMMENTARY
Record Number: 845553
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