Look for the progress of these California bills.

Redistricting, the process of redrawing election district boundaries every ten years to ensure that districts have equal population, is crucial to our democracy. AB 764 (Bryan) and AB 1248 (Bryan & Allen) would help ensure that local jurisdictions adopt electoral maps that result in fair representation for all Californians.

AB 764 would strengthen the FAIR MAPS Act (FMA), which prohibits partisan gerrymandering  in cities and counties and sets standardized redistricting criteria to ensure neighborhoods and diverse communities are kept intact. Specifically AB 764 would:

• Prohibit incumbency protection in the redistricting process.
• Increase transparency and public engagement.
• Expand  provisions of the FMA to include educational and special districts.
• Create a clear legal process for bringing claims alleging violations of the FMA.

AB 1248 would require that the state’s larger cities, counties, and educational districts establish independent redistricting commissions (IRCs). Voters and communities should choose their elected representatives, rather than elected officials choosing their voters. IRCs are one tool to ensure that the redistricting process respects and fairly represents communities, neighborhoods, and shared interests.

LWVC is co-sponsored these bills because we know that every Californian’s voice should be heard when determining our communities’ futures. How districts are drawn has the power to determine, for the next decade, whether communities and neighborhoods’ shared interests will be fairly represented at varying levels of government.

– From a message by Carol Moon Goldberg, President, LWVC