The new local independent redistricting commissions were authorized by the 2019 Fair MAPS Act, passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom as a way to prevent political gerrymandering.
✂
The Fair MAPS Act has helped reform what used to be the “wild, wild West” in redistricting, said Jonathan Mehta Stein, executive director of California Common Cause.
“It has created a tool for local communities to demand their rightful place in the process,” he told CalMatters. “Generally speaking, independent commissions pretty consistently take community input seriously and do the work of hearing from the public in a robust way.”
That may help level the playing field for political newcomers, since elected officials, who already have the incumbency advantages of name recognition and fundraising, sometimes try to draw districts to help themselves.
FYI California Fair MAPS Act …
The new local independent redistricting commissions were authorized by the 2019 Fair MAPS Act, passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom as a way to prevent political gerrymandering.
✂
The Fair MAPS Act has helped reform what used to be the “wild, wild West” in redistricting, said Jonathan Mehta Stein, executive director of California Common Cause.
“It has created a tool for local communities to demand their rightful place in the process,” he told CalMatters. “Generally speaking, independent commissions pretty consistently take community input seriously and do the work of hearing from the public in a robust way.”
That may help level the playing field for political newcomers, since elected officials, who already have the incumbency advantages of name recognition and fundraising, sometimes try to draw districts to help themselves.
https://calmatters.org/politics/2021/10/california-redistricting-local-commissions/