California Choices

California Ballot Propositions - November 2nd 2010

PROP

Return task of redistricting to the California State Legislature (repealing Prop 11)

Proposition 27 would amend the constitution by returning the authority to draw district boundaries for the State Assembly, State Senate, and Board of Equalization to the Legislature. This would reverse the effects of Proposition 11, which passed on November 4, 2008. Proposition 11 transferred authority to redraw districts from the Legislature to a legislative redistricting commission. Proposition 20, also on the November ballot, would transfer authority of congressional districts over to the redistricting commission. If both of these measures are approved by voters, the proposition receiving the greater number of “yes” votes would go into effect.

Official Election Results:

Yes: 3,736,443 [40.5%]
No: 5,468,703 [59.5%]

Pro / Con
Polling
In-Depth
Voter Resources
Multimedia
Endorsements

Pro / Con

PRO

Supporters say that Proposition 27 will save taxpayers money by lowering redistricting costs. They claim that the current redistricting commission is made up of bureacrats who are not properly accountable to the public. Supporters also say that Proposition 27 will restore Senate, Assembly, and Board of Equalization districts to "one person, one vote districts" which are not drawn based on economic status. They claim these districts will be more fair and balanced.

Supporters

California Coalition for Leadership and Accountability [Website archived in Internet Archive]

CON

Opponents say that Proposition 27 will return redistricting in the state to legislators who will draw their own districts to protect their jobs, just like they’ve done in the past. They claim that Proposition 27 is not about saving money as it claims but is a power play from legislators in Sacramento.

Opponents

Voters First [Website archived in Internet Archive]

California Chamber of Commerce

California State Conference of the NAACP

AARP

California Common Cause

League of Women Voters

Polling

Coming soon!

In-Depth

Introduction

Redistricting is the redrawing of boundaries for legislative districts every 10 years following the national census to reflect changes in population. The governor has the authority to approve or veto proposed districts.

Redistricting and reapportionment, the allocation of seats to states, help determine the partisan makeup of our legislative bodies, and strongly affect the representation of ethnic groups and geographic areas within the state. The high political stakes of redistricting and reapportionment have led to recurring struggles over control of the process.

In a 2005 special election, Governor Schwarzenegger supported Proposition 77, which sought to transfer authority to redraw congressional and legislative district boundaries from the legislature to a panel of retired judges. The measure was defeated by a wide margin. With the passage of Proposition 11 onthe November 2008 ballot, authority to redraw Assembly, Senate, and Board of Equalization district boundaries transferred from the legislature to a 14-person legislative redistricting commission.

Proposition 27

Proposition 27 is one of two redistricting measures on the November 2010 ballot, the other being Proposition 20. Proposition 27 would amend the constitution by returning authority to draw district boundaries for the State Assembly, State Senate, and BOE to the Legislature. This would reverse the effects of Proposition 11, which passed on November 4, 2008. Proposition 27 would also require that the Legislature hold hearings before and after district boundary maps are introduced. Proposition 27 would delete existing requirements including those related to arranging different types of districts together and creation of geographically compact districts. Under this measure, the population of each district must be nearly equal with other districts or the same office (with a difference in population of no greater than one person).

Proposition 20 would enhance Proposition 11. Proposition 20 would transfer congressional districts to the authority of the redistricting commission. Proposition 20 also defines a "community of interest" for all districts. If both of these measures are approved by voters, the proposition receiving the greater number of “yes” votes would go into effect, canceling the passage of the other measure.