The Joke of Redistricting California
The California political process is broken. People like me are fed up. Still, sometimes I see an opportunity to have a little hope. That hope is usually crushed very quickly.
My last faux pas came from http://www.wedrawthelines.ca.gov/. Legislative and board of equalization boundaries used to be drawn by lawmakers every few years to reflect new population data. When voters passed Proposition 11 (the Voters FIRST Act) in the November 2008 general election, that responsibility transferred to the people in the form of a new Citizens Redistricting Commission.
Call me stupid, but I actually care about the political process. I recently filled out an online application to serve on the Redistricting Commission. Shortly after applying I received this disqualification email:
Your application has been received. Your responses to the questions
on the application indicate that you either do not satisfy the
eligibility requirements for serving as a member of the Citizens
Redistricting Commission or you have a disqualifying conflict of
interest that prohibits you from serving on the commission. As a
result, you will not be included in the pool of applicants from which
the commission will be selected. Specifically, you have been
excluded from the applicant pool because:Your party registration has not remained the same since
November 18, 2005.
If you believe that there has been an error or you have questions,
please e-mail us at votersfirstact@auditor.ca.gov or call
1-866-356-5217.
Basically, the email says that I am excluded from the process simply because I have declined to remain a consistent and loyal follower of a political party. Hitler and Stalin would be proud of these tactics. My unhappiness with political partisanship (I switched to independent last year) actually prevents me from serving on this “nonpartisan” committee.
I think it is laughable that the criteria being applied to disqualify applicants actually encourages partisanship on the commission rather than discouraging it. The rule guarantees that only loyal komrades will be included on a commission dedicated with the task of ”changing” the boundary lines. Anyone who has switched affiliations in the past 5 years is automatically rejected.
It is clear that this new redistricting process only another attempt by politicians to retain the status quo.
Still, I will hold on to hope. If you are a California resident, I encourage you to apply to the commission. The deadline is February 12, 2009 - two more days.