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REDISTRICTING - I'm unsure!!!

Mensch

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I just wanted to know the various opinions regarding CA Prop 20 which calls for a citizen's commission to redistrict CA. Traditionally, the legislature has drawn the districting boundaries, which resulted in gerry-mandering and a 97% reelection rate. I want to vote YES on 20, but I'm afraid the bureaucratic commission won't be much better. What are your thoughts?
 
I'm undecided myself on that Amendment. It sounds like what Schwarznegger wanted as part of his 4 Ballot measures in 2005 , but it probably is more likely than not to be run by Loyal Political hacks.
 
I just wanted to know the various opinions regarding CA Prop 20 which calls for a citizen's commission to redistrict CA. Traditionally, the legislature has drawn the districting boundaries, which resulted in gerry-mandering and a 97% reelection rate. I want to vote YES on 20, but I'm afraid the bureaucratic commission won't be much better. What are your thoughts?

Computer programs already exist to end the party bias in redistricting.
All they have to do is be used.
 
I just wanted to know the various opinions regarding CA Prop 20 which calls for a citizen's commission to redistrict CA. Traditionally, the legislature has drawn the districting boundaries, which resulted in gerry-mandering and a 97% reelection rate. I want to vote YES on 20, but I'm afraid the bureaucratic commission won't be much better. What are your thoughts?

I'm all for a certain degree of gerrymandering. I think that Democratic neighborhoods should be grouped together for the benefit of Democratic elected officials, and I think that Republican neighborhoods should be grouped together for the benefit of Republican elected officials. That way, it's MORE likely that people of one party will be represented by their choice of candidate.

What I oppose is what I call "hostile gerrymandering." That's when small sections of a politically leaning neighborhood get cut up so as to be a minority group in neihborhoods that lean largely towards the other party. So, say, instead of having 1 district that is mostly Democratic and 3 districts that are mostly Republican, that Democratic district gets divided and put in as part of the Republican districts to make 4 Republican districts each with a Democratic minority that could never hurt their chances of getting a Democrat elected to office.

In fact, I'm beginning to oppose the Single Member Districts system of the House of Representatives and would prefer a Proportional system state-wide.
 
Anybody look at the Confines (Map) of the Bob Filner(D-Calif) district ???? That's the kind of stuff that needs to end.
 
I just wanted to know the various opinions regarding CA Prop 20 which calls for a citizen's commission to redistrict CA. Traditionally, the legislature has drawn the districting boundaries, which resulted in gerry-mandering and a 97% reelection rate. I want to vote YES on 20, but I'm afraid the bureaucratic commission won't be much better. What are your thoughts?

Vote yes on it.

We have 58 counties and 53 districts.

Look at the 46th - it very deliberately cuts around lower and middle income areas in an effort to group Palos Verdes with higher income areas of Orange County.
 
I just wanted to know the various opinions regarding CA Prop 20 which calls for a citizen's commission to redistrict CA. Traditionally, the legislature has drawn the districting boundaries, which resulted in gerry-mandering and a 97% reelection rate. I want to vote YES on 20, but I'm afraid the bureaucratic commission won't be much better. What are your thoughts?

Personally, I think once a census is complete and you know roughly how many districts you're going to have, you group whole counties together to form districts using arbitrary geographical barriers.

A county too populated to be a single district? Town lines.

A town too big? Blocks, then.
 
I too have no position on this. I have taken a position on the rest but I really don't know what the differences are if the differences are worthy.
 
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