Published
4 years agoon
SACRAMENTO — California on Monday gave more time to apply to an independent commission that will redraw boundaries for most state and federal elections, an effort to get more people of color involved and avoid the political gerrymandering that has caused problems elsewhere.
Nearly 14,000 people have applied for the 14 positions, said California State Auditor Elaine Howle, who heads the selection process. But that’s less than half the roughly 30,000 who applied a decade ago. She pushed the deadline back to Aug. 19 after some organizations sought an even longer extension for fear that too few minority residents have applied for the commission that will draw new lines after the 2020 census.
In most states, legislators and governors draw and approve political district maps following each U.S. census, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that it had no authority to resolve partisan gerrymandering claims. But a growing number of states, including California, have moved the remapping to independent or bipartisan commissions or have changed their requirements to reduce the likelihood of partisan gerrymandering.
California voters approved a pair of ballot measures, in 2008 and 2010, creating the independent commission to redraw congressional, state Senate, state Assembly and state Board of Equalization district lines after new population figures emerge.
The commission must include five Democrats, five Republicans and four who have no party preference or belong to another party.
Howle said she’s happy with a recent increase in applications but wants more.
“We’ve really seen a significant surge in the applications that we’ve received,” Howle said, adding that fewer than 10,000 had applied a week ago. “We’re confident there will be a very diverse group.”
“We’re very, very pleased to hear,” collaborative spokeswoman Alejandra Ponce De León said. “However, 10 days is still not enough to really close that disparity gap.”
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