Politics & Government

Answers to All Your Questions on Redistricting in California

Who is in charge of redistricting? Why does it matter? Why now? All these questions and more answered below.

The California Citizens Redistricting Committee released a draft plan for new electoral boundaries for congressional and state districts all over the state.

On Friday, Los Altos Patch linked to maps and described the differences between the proposed districts and Los Altos' old district.

Below, we answer some common questions about the redistricting process.  Much of the below information comes from the commission's website, called We Draw the Lines, which has additional information about the commission as well.

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What is redistricting?

  • Redistricting is the process of redrawing electoral boundaries to account for any changes in population that might make districts unequal in the number of residents who are represented. The number of congressional districts in each state does not change with redistricting.

Why is it happening now?

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  • Redistricting happens every 10 years as required by federal law after the census releases new information on population. The results of the 2010 census were released this spring.

Which districts are being redrawn?

Who created the commission?

  • The commission was created by the Proposition 11 ballot initiative, which voters narrowly passed in the November 2008 election. 

Who is on the commission?

  • There are 14 commission members from all over the state. Five of them are registered Democrats, five are Republicans and four are decline-to-state voters. The full biographies of the members can be read here.
  • Citizens from throughout the state were invited to apply for the commission and asked to provide information on their backgrounds and to answer essay questions on why they wanted to serve. Three independent auditors from the Bureau of State Audits narrowed those applications down to 120 people, 40 Democrats, 40 Republicans and 40 decline-to-state voters.
  • Those 120 were interviewed and the auditors then cut the group in half to 60. Those 60 were vetted by the California Legislature's leaders, which were given the right to remove up to 24 without giving any specific reason. According to a Los Angeles Times article, the legislators did remove 24 candidates.
  • The state auditors then drew names at random from the remaining 36 to select the first eight commission members, and together those eight were empowered to select the remaining six.

Why should redistricting matter to me?

  • New boundaries can mean new elected leaders, sometimes of a different party than the previous representative of an area.  In some cases it could mean that a state or congressional seat that was previously uncompetitive could now be in play for another party.

Who drew the districts before 2008?

  • The California Legislature was previously empowered to draw the boundaries for both state and congressional districts.  They were not required to meet publicly to do so.

What are the standards that the commission followed in creating the districts?

  • The main standard the commission was required to follow was to put towns together with other "communities of interest."

What exactly is a "community of interest?"

  • The commission took the phrase from California's Constitution, which defines it this way: A community of interest is a contiguous population, which shares common social and economic interests that should be included within a single district for purposes of its effective and fair representation. Examples of such shared interests are those common to an urban area, a rural area, an industrial area, or an agricultural area, and those common to areas in which the people share similar living standards, use the same transportation facilities, have similar work opportunities or have access to the same media of communication relevant to the election process. Communities of interest shall not include relationships with political parties, incumbents, or political candidates.

Did the commission consider the political implications of redrawing districts?

  • The commission was not asked to attempt to maintain any kind of existing balance between Democratic and Republican seats. The criteria the commission looked at specifically did not include data on what the new districts would mean in terms of voter registration. The commission's website describes the difference between the commission's work and past efforts this way: "Historically, legislators drew the district boundaries in closed meetings, often favoring incumbents or their own party."

What if I don't like the new proposed districts?

  • The districts will not be finalized until Aug. 15.  There will be public meetings throughout the state this summer for people to offer input as to what the final districts should be. Citizens can also voice any issues by calling or emailing the commission to register an official public comment.
  • The next public hearing in the area will be on June 25 at 200 E. Santa Clara St., San Jose, from 2-5 p.m.


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