The Lines Are Being Drawn: Make Your Voice Heard
The lines are being drawn throughout California. The Citizens Redistricting Committee is working to redraw the lines for the State Senate, State Assembly, and Congressional and State Board of Equalization Districts. The 58 counties are redistricting as well. This happens every 10 years after the census. The CRC currently is seeking citizen input on how the districts are redrawn.
“It’s one of the greatest powers people have to elect representatives. Redistricting has been used at times to exclude communities from political power,” said Ashleigh Howick of the CRC at the Lamorinda Republican Women’s special virtual meeting yesterday.
There are six key criteria used in creating a district, she explained. The districts must be of nearly equal population, must conform to the Voting Rights Act, must be drawn contiguously, must minimize the interest of cites, must be geographically compact and, where possible, each Senate district must include two Assembly districts. The CRC also is looking for common social and economic interests that should be included within a single district.
Howick said one can be heard in this process by sending their comments directly to the commission through the website www.drawmycommunity.org and fill out the questionnaire. The commission also live streams videos of its meetings and the schedule is available at the website www.wedrawthelines.org.
The commission is comprised of five Republicans, five Democrats, and four not affiliated with either party. The first draft of district maps are to be posted by November 15 with the final maps delivered to the Secretary of State by December 27.