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NALEO Calls on Legislature to Protect Opportunity for Diverse Redistricting Commission
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Tagged: NALEO, redistrictingThe National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) issued the following statement regarding the opportunity for California’s top legislative leadership to strike individuals from the final pool of applicants for the state’s new Citizens Redistricting Commission:
“The selection process for California’s new 14-member Citizens Redistricting Commission is now at a critical stage. Our state’s top legislative leaders have the opportunity to eliminate 24 of the 60 individuals who are in the pool of applicants from which the Commission members will be ultimately chosen.
“In order to ensure a fair redistricting process, it is important that the Commission reflect California’s diverse population, and the applicant pool has significant representation from Latinos and other underrepresented population groups. We urge the legislative leaders to exercise their strikes in a manner that does not reduce the diversity of the applicant pool. We also call on them to promote transparency in the Commission selection process by providing a public statement of their reasons for striking each applicant.
“The legislative leaders’ action is particularly important in light of the enactment of the passage of Proposition 20, which will transfer responsibility for drawing Congressional district lines to the Redistricting Commission. The Commission was initially created with the authority to only draw maps for state legislative and Board of Equalization districts. NALEO deplores the passage of this ballot measure, because it will subject Congressional redistricting to the same flawed approach which now governs the state legislative and Board of Equalization seats.
“NALEO believes that the convoluted process for selecting members for the new 14-member Commission creates a significant risk that the Commission will not adequately reflect the diversity of California’s population. After the legislature exercises its strikes, a random drawing will select eight of the Commissioners, and the lottery can hardly ensure diversity among those picked. The final eight Commissioners then choose the remaining six, and although these eight are required to seek Commission diversity, it may be impossible to achieve if they themselves are not sufficiently diverse. In light of these risks, in order for there to be any chance of a diverse Commission, the applicant pool from which the Commissioners are ultimately selected must be diverse, and legislative leadership has an important responsibility to safeguard the process at this stage.
“NALEO is also greatly concerned about the provisions of Proposition 20 which impose a tighter deadline for the Commission to produce redistricting maps. There is a serious risk that the Commission will telescope the amount of time for public hearings and comment. The likely result is a less sound, open, and fair redistricting process.
“The diversity of the current Redistricting Commission applicant pool is no accident. It is the result of vigorous advocacy and outreach efforts undertaken by a large number of organizations and individuals throughout the state. NALEO also calls on the proponents of Proposition 20 to engage in such efforts during future redistrictings. Because of the flaws in the selection process, such efforts are necessary if there is to be any chance of having Commissions that fully reflect California’s diverse population. In addition, these proponents should advocate with the Commission to leave sufficient time to obtain public comment during the 2011 redistricting process.
“Census 2010 data are certain to show that California’s population has become more diverse, with significant growth in the Latino community. Unless there are effective efforts to mitigate the flaws in California’s redistricting process, which Proposition 20 makes worse, Latinos will not be able to continue their progress toward full and fair representation in the state, and our democracy will become weaker.”
About NALEO
The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials is the leadership organization of the nation’s more than 6,000 Latino elected and appointed officials.
Contacts
NALEO
Patricia Guadalupe, 202-546-2536
pguadalupe@naleo.org
or
Rosalind Gold, 213-747-7606, ext. 4420
rgold@naleo.org
From: www.businesswire.com
Posted on: November 10th, 2010Curation from Tomás
Filed Under: Additional News, Politics, Press Releases
