By Jason Clark, CAGOP Bay Area Region Vice Chair

California needs your help to ensure that fair districts are created for our Congress and State Legislature. Five Republicans, five Democrats, and four voters not registered with either of those parties will be chosen to serve on the fourteen-member commission with the power to draw these lines.

Every ten years, the U.S. Census is performed, counting the number of people in each state. Seats in the House of Representatives are then apportioned based on each state’s population. In 2020, as a decade ago, California is not expected to gain a seat, and might, for the first time in history, even lose a seat.

Next year, the second-ever California Citizens Redistricting Commission, comprised entirely of citizens, will draw district boundaries for State Senate, State Assembly, and the House. Traditionally, electoral districts were drawn by the legislature. In both 1980 and 1990, district lines drawn by the legislature resulted in protracted court battles. To avoid this, in 2000, politicians in Sacramento agreed upon a compromise: to draw safe seats for every legislator. Disgusted, Californians passed Proposition 11 in 2008, creating a commission of citizens to draw our legislative district lines, removing the power from politicians, and placing it in the hands of the people. Two years later, Californians passed Proposition 20, adding congressional districts to the scope of the Commission.

Starting June 10, you have a unique opportunity to help us shape the future of California by applying to serve on this Commission. Since the Commission is by design a Commission to represent all citizens, not just those who have a vested interest in where the lines will fall, there are a few restrictions on who can apply:

• You must have been registered to vote for at least 5 years consistently with either the Democratic Party, or the Republican party, or with neither of those parties.
• You must have voted in at least 2 of the past 3 statewide general elections.

In addition, persons are disqualified from serving on the Commission if in the last ten years they:

1. Served as an officer, employee or paid consultant of a California political party;
2. Worked as paid staff for a candidate for state or federal office;
3. Are a registered lobbyist working in California or lobbying the federal government;
4. Were a candidate for state or federal office;
5. Contributed $2,000 or more to any single candidate running for state or federal office, with the exception of donating to a Presidential campaign;
6. Were a staffer for a state legislator, state office-holder or for member of Congress.

The application rules ensure that many of our true grassroots supporters have a chance to join this Commission. Nearly all of us know a Republican who meets the application criteria. Encourage them to apply! Many of us have a friend who is not Republican (such as a No-Party-Preference voter or a Democrat), who thinks like us and votes like us. Encourage them to apply as well! We need good people with good values working to ensure that fair lines are drawn here in California.

View more details about eligibility requirements on BayAreaGOP’s Redistricting page.

Applications open June 10th and end on August 9th. Visit shapecaliforniasfuture.auditor.ca.gov to learn more and apply.