One of the things that really grate me are the folks who complain about our dysfunctional government but don't bother to do anything about it, including to vote. Well here's your chance to step up. It will soon be time to redraw the lines of political districts (done every 10 years, based on the new Census data), and the way this is done is a huge factor in determining who gets elected to office. When redistricting is done by the legislature, it is typically done to make districts "safe" (i.e. non-competitive) for one party or the other. This has been done to a great extent in California, and is one of the reasons why our state government is so ineffective, since representatives end up being more extremely partisan and less responsive to the voters.
Fortunately this process has been reformed by the passage of Prop 11 last November, taking the job of redistricting away from the legislature and putting it in the hands of a Citizens Redistricting Commission. It will be comprised of 14 Californians who will be selected according to a process designed to make the Commission as impartial as possible. There are certain conditions (must have been registered to vote for the last 5 years, and voted in at least 2 of the last 3 statewide elections) and exclusions (cannot be a lobbyist or have worked for an elected official, plus some other limitations). The application period to join the Commission is now open, and I encourage anyone who is interested to apply.
Read more about the process, and find the application here:
Applications can be submitted until February 12th.
FYI, the Commission will only be determining the district lines for California state offices (State Senate, Assembly, and Board of Equalization), not the US Congress.
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