Redistricting: Another California Revolution

Abstract:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has called for reform of the way districts are drawn for state and federal legislative offices. Currently, the California legislature has the power to draw district lines for the state Assembly, the state Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. Each house draws its own districts, and they work together on the congressional districts. In California, legislators have used their redistricting authority to construct districts that protect incumbents. In other states, like Texas, the majority party draws district lines to entrench their political control. Redistricting often must occur after the decennial census to readjust boundaries to account for population shifts. The redistricting reform supported by Schwarzenegger would shift the power to draw district lines to a nonpartisan commission of retired judges.