By Kevin D. Korenthal - SoCalPundit.com
It has long been known that California's legislative districts are devised in such a way as to prevent any new comers from having a shot at wrestling state Senate seats away from those already occupying them.
The current system allows politicians to determine legislative and Congressional boundaries--which essentially means lawmakers can choose their voters, not vice versa. And it's a system that has resulted in a political class that answers first and foremost to its special interest patrons. This single ballot measure would go a very long way toward injecting competition into a political process in which incumbents currently hold office as long as they like.Bring in the California Special Election. There are many initiatives on the ballot for November, some of which are even backed by The Governor but clearly...
...Arnold's most potent initiative would transfer the authority to draw California's voting districts from the legislature to a panel of bipartisan retired judges. Of the 153 seats ostensibly up for grabs last November--53 Congressional seats and 100 in the state legislature--not a single one changed parties.Sounds fair huh? Take the power to make kings away from the kings so that the real king makers are the voters! Democrats disagree that this is necessary. And rather than simply advertise against it, they have decided to beat it in the courts where a minor change of wording could have the initiative thrown out before voters even have a chance to vote on it.
The proposition has polled well, so it was no surprise that California's Democrat-controlled legislature, desperate to preserve these sinecures, initially responded with a counterproposal that would allow a seven-member "citizens commission" to redraw districts. A majority of the members would be chosen by the lawmakers, who would appoint commissioners who do as they're told. Sort of like the puppet regime that Japan set up in China prior to World War II.The bottom line here is that Californians have a right to vote on this initiative. But Democrats are increasingly fearful of any changes to the majority gerrymandered seats they currently hold in government. They seem to realize that if all things are equal, they have less of a chance of remaining the dominant force in California politics. Posted by at July 18, 2005 02:49 PM | TrackBackThat plan was going nowhere, when earlier this month state Attorney General Bill Lockyer, a Democrat and former leader of the state senate, decided to take matters into his own hands by suing to have the Governor's redistricting proposal simply removed from the ballot on a technicality.