Redistricting
Proposition 11 Implementation Begins
The passage of Proposition 11, the California Voters FIRST measure on the November 2008 ballot, brings real redistricting reform to our state.
Public meetings have been held around the state to solicit input about making the recruitment and selection process for the Citizens Redistricting Commission as open and broad as possible. We had a strong presence at all the meetings, both as speakers and observers. The State Auditor is setting up procedures for application to the Commission and will soon issue draft regulations. Learn more about this process and view the tentative timeline. 
Read why we strongly supported Prop 11. See the Governor's press release about the win and read the speakers’ remarks at the December 17 celebration, including those of LWVC President Janis R. Hirohama.
League Members at San Francisco Redistricting Meeting February, 2009
This reform will enable voters to choose their legislators and eliminate the conflict of interest that occurs when legislators draw the lines and choose their constituents. Read about this initiative:
- one-page
summary
- important background points
- full
text
- two-page
overview
- report: Redistricting
Reform in California from
the Center for Governmental Studies (28 pgs)
What You Can Do
The League is forming a Redistricting Committee comprised of League volunteers who will work with our Prop 11 partners to facilitate the best possible implementation of redistricting reform for California. We are looking at a variety of opportunities over the next three years and we need a wide array of talent and enthusiasm. To help develop materials that explain the Commission process and why citizens should care about it, we need members with experience in researching and writing basic educational materials.
If you’ve participated in League studies, written presentations, or developed audio/visual materials, we certainly can use your skills. If you’ve been a part of your League’s Speakers Bureau, done public speaking in any field, enjoy reaching out to your community, we can certainly use those skills. If you’ve had experience in reading, evaluating, or writing regulations for government agencies, we most definitely need those skills. If you’ve been a League Observer, or would like to learn how to be one, we need you to attend an occasional public meeting and report back. If you’re on Facebook or MySpace, or blog, or are thinking about it, then we need you to help us inform the public.
This is an incredible opportunity to get involved in making history. And the League is the place for this kind of hands-on work. Contact our government director right away to express your interest in being considered for this project.
Campaign Materials
- a flyer (front and back )
which gives the reasons we strongly support this measure.
- a letter to the editor for local newspapers.
- an article about Proposition 11 in for newsletters.
For information about the campaign, contact us or visit the campaign Web site.
Timeline and Materials
May
6, 2008 - We turned in 1.2 million signatures to
county elections offices to qualify the initiaitve for
the November 2008 ballot. Read the press
release. 
February
26, 2008 - Former state controller Steve Westly joined
Governor Schwarzenegger as cochair of the campaign, heading
a growing bipartisan list of endorsers. Read the press
release.
|
 From left: California Governor Schwarzenegger,
Janis Hirohama, LWVC President, and Kathay Feng,
Executive Director of California Common Cause
at the press conference on December 3 in Sacramento. |
Also on this page:
- Movement toward Reform (2007)
- A Poll of California Voters
- Elements of Redistricting Reform
- History of LWVC Redistricting Advocacy
- Valuable Reports and Background Information
Movement Toward Reform (2007)
September
7 - The League and coalition partners continue to
meet with legislators to press for placing a redistricting
reform measure on the February 2008 ballot. Read our press
release.
August
23 - In Los Angeles, the LWVC and California
Common Cause hosted a press conference with Governor
Schwarzenegger and former Governors Davis and
Wilson to push for passage of a redistricting
reform measure this legislative session.
|
 From left: Janis Hirohama,
LWVC President, Gov. Schwarzenegger, Voices of
Reform Coalition Co-Chair Fred Keeley, LA County
AARP Asst. State Director David Figueroa, and
Voices of Reform Coalition Co-Chair Dan Schnur |
Learn
about the process of redistricting by playing The
Redistricting Game.
April
24 -- The LWVC and its partners are pleased that
several comprehensive bills have been introduced rcently.
We urge legislators to move forward with hearings to
devleop a reform proposal and place it on the ballot. Read
the press release we issued.
The comprehensive proposals introduced in the legislature are ACA 1 (Price and Nuñez), SCA 9 (Ashburn) and SCA 10 (Lowenthal). Another bill, ACA 4 (Villines), contains provisions concerning the standards for drawing lines.
Two initiative proposals have been cleared for circulation of petitions for signatures: See this entry in the Secretary of State's 2007 Initiative Update.
Read and print a simple fact
sheet about
redistricting reform.
For links to news articles, opinion pieces, and more information about redistricting reform in Caliofrnia, visit the Commonwealth Club of California's Voices of Reform Project.
A Poll of California Voters
An April 2006 survey about Californians' attitudes toward redistricting reform shows strong support for an independent redistricting commission. View a PowerPoint summary of the survey results. (1.3Mb)
The League commissioned the poll along with California Common Cause and the Rose Institute of State and Local Government. Partial funding was received from the James Irvine Foundation.
Elements of Redistricting Reform
The basic elements of redistricting reform are
- an independent redistricting commission that reflects the diversity of our state,
- an open process for public input and scrutiny, and
- sound criteria for the drawing of plans.
Sign
up to be on the League's redistricting activists e-list at redistricting@lwvc.org.
History of LWVC Redistricting Advocacy
We have been active since 2005 in our efforts to change the redistricting system. Read a history of our advocacy efforts in 2005 and 2006.
Valuable Reports and Background Information
- The
Shape of Representative Democracy (PDF
file), a November 2005 report by The Campaign
Legal Center and The Council for Excellence in
Government that outlines a set of consensus principles
for reforming congressional and legislative redistricting.
The principles were endorsed by the League of
Women Voters as well as other reform organizations
and individuals as one way of moving ahead to
achieve real redistricting reform.
-
The League endorsed a 2005 report, Drawing
Lines: A Public Interest Guide to Real Redistricting
Reform ,
by the nonpartisan organizations Demos and
the Center
for Governmental Studies. Read the press
release about the report. The report recommends features
of Independent Redistricting Commissions and analyzes
current California proposals. See also Re-Drawing
Lines an
update analyzing 2006 proposals.
- "California
Redistricting in the 1990s: The Process and the
Public Interest" (PDF - 280k). The summary of the League's 1988
study of redistricting containing information
highly relevant in 2005.
- Our position on Redistricting. Adopted by the League of Women Voters of California in 1988 and the basis of our action.