California has always advertised itself as a beacon of democracy. In 2008 and 2010, voters made constitutional changes in the creation of an independent citizens redistribution committee, the gold standard for redistribution and should serve as the national model.
Here in California our citizens, unlike other states, choose their representatives – the representatives do not choose their citizens. In our Constitution, our criteria are that we keep cities, provinces and interesting communities together while we draw up district lines in public, during hearings in the entire state.
Gavin Newsom wants to go against our constitution. He put maps behind closed doors without input from the community and split the provinces 16 times and cities more than 100 times, again, without public hearings. The result will not be competitive districts in the state of California. Where voters today have a voice about who is chosen, that will disappear with the redistribution schedule of Newsom.
Newsom, California Dems continue with the efforts of the redistribution to prevent Trump supported by Trump in Texas
Gavin’s Grymander Gamble also costs the state between $ 200 and $ 250 million dollars. I find it interesting that the Governor could not find the money to finance Proposition 36, so that crime would again become illegal in California and would be passed on in 58 provinces with almost 70% of voters. But he found the money to pay for his redistribution location that would go against our constitution.
The governor says that this is a temporary measure, but from my experience nothing is temporary when it passes. Supermajority said that the tax increase would be temporary, but it became permanent. The Golden Gate Bridge -Tol had to be temporary, but it became permanent. I don’t believe for one second that this is temporary, and you don’t.
Here is another problem: when governors leave a system that is built to prevent exactly this type of manipulation, either in Texas or California, they undermine democracy itself. Former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has weighed, not with partisan rhetoric, but with sober warning. In an interview, the former governor stated his strong opposition to Gerrymeering: “I saw it firsthand how it is like the evil of politics” and added: “It is very clearly an attack on the choice of people. It gets more power for politicians.” Schwarzenegger has encouraged Newsom to maintain the independent committee instead of leaving it.
There is no conference chair or two at stake, but the principle that voters – no political parties – have to attract their own districts. One statement of a former chairman of the first independent Redistricting Commission of California stated that “Californians should demand that Newsom and legislative leaders respect the will of the people and the independent redistricting commission, nor the limited financial resources of the state, for the short -term political profit.”
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I support the Californian congress member Kevin Kalley’s pro-democracy legislation, which will become national redistribution halfway through the decade and the Governor, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and all legislators, and all legislators and all legislators to support federal legislation. California does not have to sacrifice or bypass the redistricting commission led by the citizen to combat gerrymage because it will invite a dangerous trend. When one side bows democratic rules for benefits, the other follows. When both do that, democracy stops about voters and instead becomes a race to redraw lines. Two mistakes do not make justice.
Democracy is not about winning seats by smart Gerrymanders. It is possible to win the trust of our citizens and their voices. California may not leave our system for temporary profit when the health is at stake in the long term of our democracy.
