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2008
Why Schwarzenegger's Redistricting Plan
Won't Work
California Majority Report.com
May 13, 2008
Tony Quinn: Redistricting Reform OK, But
It's Only A Start
Sacramento Bee
May 11, 2008
Governor May Face Donor Fatigue
Contra Costa Times
May 11, 2008
Dan Walters: Competing Proposals For Remap
Sacramento Bee
May 7, 2008
Initiative On Redistricting Closer To
Ballot
San Francisco Chronicle
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Nunez Pushes Ethics Plan As Rival Petitions
Are Filed
Sacramento Bee
May 7, 2008
To Get Leadership Reform, We First Need
Redistricting
Los Angeles Daily News
May 1, 2008
Good Intentions Could Harm Redistricting
Ballot Measure
Los Angeles Times
April 28, 2008
Redistricting On Track To Qualify,
Consultant Says
New America Foundation.com
April 23, 2008
Why Are GOP Contributors Putting Big Money
Into Redistricting Reform?
California Progress Report.com
April 19, 2008
Gov's
Giving To Remap Measure Tops $1 million
Sacramento Bee Capital Alert
April 21, 2008
‘Due
Process’ Democrats Have Their Heads Buried in the California Sand
California Progress Report.com
April 20, 2008
Opinion: Seeing The Light
Los Angeles Daily News
April 19, 2008
California
Voters FIRST Presents A Balanced And Bipartisan Effort For Redistricting
Reform
California Progress Report.com
April 17, 2008
Schwarzenegger's
Redistricting Plan Comes Under Fire
Contra Costa Times
April 17, 2008
Group Says Plan Will Put A Stop To
Gerrymandering
The Simi Valley Acron
April 4, 2008
The Need For Redistricting Reform From
This California Democrat’s Perspective
California Progress Report.com
April 4, 2008
Labor Says No To
Schwarzenegger/Republican/Common Cause Redistricting Measure
The California Majority Report.com
April 02, 2008
Revenge In Attack On Legislative
Redistricting?
California Progress Report.com
March 31, 2008
Weintraub: Governor Gets Another Shot At
Redistricting Reform
Sacramento Bee
March 30, 2008
Editorial: Can't Legislature Do Better Than
Bills On Dogs, Donkeys?
The Fresno Bee
March 30, 2008
Walters: Voters Irate At Budget Posturing
Sacramento Bee
March 28, 2008
New Foundation To Campaign For More Efficient
California Government
Sacramento Bee
March 27, 2008
Editorial: California Voters Should Support
Redistricting Ballot Measure
Fresno Bee
March 24, 2008
Editorial: Redraw the Map
Los Angeles Daily News
March 22, 2008
Walters: Court Ruling Offers Hope to
Dysfunctional California Politics
Sacramento Bee
March 19, 2008
Supreme Court to Hear Major Redistricting
Case
The Thicket at State Legislatures (ncsl.com)
March 18, 2008
Editorial: Let Citizens Redraw the Map
The Torrance Daily Breeze
March 17, 2008
Walters: Redistrict Reformers Miss Mark
Sacramento Bee
March 10, 2008
Let Citizens
Redraw Map
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
March 9, 2008
Governor Proposes Redistricting Ballot
Measure
North County Times
March 8, 2008
Redistricting Initiative Has Strong
Republican Backing
San Jose Mercury News
March 6, 2008
Governor Gathers Signatures to Qualify
Redistricting Measure
San Jose Mercury News
March 4, 2008
Manipulative Lawmakers Playing To The Crowd
Fresno Bee
February 14, 2008
State Voters Need To Do What Lawmakers
Won't
Los Angeles Daily News
February 14, 2008
Editorial: What We Need In Sacramento,
Redistricting, Not Retaliation
San Jose Mercury News
February 14, 2008
Redistricting Reform, Not Longer Terms, Is
The Answer
California Republic.org
February 12, 2008
The Buzz: A Hardball Tactic Could Ricochet
Sacramento Bee
February 11, 2008
Wake Up, Sacramento Media! Wake Up! Wake
Up! Wake Up!
San Diego Union Tribune
February 8, 2008
Editorial: Passive Aggressive Lawmakers
Just Play to the Crowd
Fresno Bee
February 8, 2008
Nunez Takes Blame For Prop. 93 Loss
Los Angeles Daily News
February 7, 2008
Weingand: Voters Got A Whiff and Said 'No'
Sacramento Bee
February 7, 2008
Lawmakers Believe In Term Limits But
Oppose The Measure
North County Times
February 4, 2008
Good For Us
Los Angeles Times
February 4, 2008
Commentary: A Conversation with Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger
Sacramento Bee
January 20, 2008
Walters: Two Party Structure Under Fire
Sacramento Bee
January 18, 2008
Walters: Governor's Brownian Flip-Flops
Sacramento Bee
January 16, 2008
Editorial: Corruption of a Good Idea
San Francisco Chronicle
January 15, 2008
Governor Supports Term Limit Measure
Sacramento Bee
January 15, 2008
A Deceptive Prop. 93
San Francisco Chronicle
January 10, 2008
Use Prop. 93 To Say 'No"
dailybreeze.com
January 3, 2008
more
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Group Says Plan Will Put A Stop To
Gerrymandering
Initiative requires that all state district lines are drawn
according to rules
By Darleen Principe
The Simi Valley Acron
April 4, 2008
In an effort to end political gerrymandering, a newly introduced
California Voters First redistricting initiative, if passed this
November, will create a commission to draw fair electoral district
lines for the state Assembly, Senate and Board of Equalization.
The commission, which would be open to all California voters who
meet basic requirements and have no conflicts of interest, would be
made up of five Democrats, five Republicans and four others, said
Kathy Feng, a coauthor of the initiative.
"After the census, in 2001, gerrymanders were drawn,"
Feng said. "You can see how wiggly the lines are. It's because
an incumbent was trying to draw themselves into a district, or draw
challengers outside of a district. This happened up and down the
whole state."
Feng, executive director of California Common Cause, a
nonpartisan, nonprofit political advocacy organization, presented
California Voters First on Wednesday night during a meeting at the
Simi Valley Library hosted by the local chapter of the California
Association of Political Centrists.
Currently, the California Voters First committee, which is
chaired by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, hopes to gather 1 million
signatures by May 1 and get the initiative on the November 2008
ballot.
Feng said they currently have about onethird of the signatures
required.
Still, she estimates that if the initiative is passed in
November, the California Voters First Act would go into effect
immediately.
According to the act, a person interested in applying for a
position on the commission must be a California voter registered
with the same affiliation for the last five years, and must have
voted in two of the last three statewide general elections.
A review panel established by the state auditor would then begin
the applicant screening process, Feng said.
Once established, the commission would meet through an open
hearing process, giving the public a minimum of 14 days' notice
before meetings and restricting all offtherecord or exparte
communications.
"Redistricting happens every 10 years," Feng said.
"There are about six months' worth of hearings. But come to
find out, after those six months of hearings, all (district) lines
are drawn behind closed doors over the course of two weeks.
"So we thought, 'How can we make this a lot more fair? How
can we level the playing field as opposed to allowing for the
selfinterest of particular incumbents?"
The solution, Feng said, was California Voters First, which
requires that all state district lines are drawn according to clear
mapping rules: equal population among districts; respect for the
Voting Rights Act; and respect for counties, cities and communities
of interest.
The initiative has already received endorsements from the
California Republican Assembly, IndependentVoice and the Southern
California ACLU.
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