California Civil Rights Coalition

Prop 27: Eliminates State Commission on Redistricting. Consolidates Authority for Redistricting with Elected Representatives.

Summary: Eliminates 14-member redistricting commission selected from applicant pool picked by government auditors. Consolidates authority for establishing state Assembly, Senate, and Board of Equalization district boundaries with elected state representatives responsible for drawing congressional districts. Reduces budget, and imposes limit on amount Legislature may spend, for redistricting. Provides that voters will have the authority to reject district boundary maps approved by the Legislature. Requires populations of all districts for the same office to be exactly the same.

Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Likely decrease in state redistricting costs totaling several million dollars every ten years.

For: www.yesprop27.org
Against: www.noprop27.org

CCRC endorses a ‘NO’ vote on Prop 27
This measure would remove the Citizens Redistricting Commission currently in place by Proposition 11 passed by voters in 2008. Before eliminating the commission, California voters deserve to see if the commission process is in practice better than the redistricting process led by the legislature.  In 2011, voters will get to see both processes move forward, as congressional redistricting remains with the legislature while the commission will redraw lines for state legislative and board of equalization districts.