California gets to keep its four-year-old election reforms that introduced an independent re-districting commission—replacing the old system in which politicians often re-drew legislative districts to favor incumbents. That’s because on Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a similar system in Arizona. Reporter Rebecca Havely says had the decision gone the other way, California’s election system would have been thrown into disarray…
Stephen Spaulding of the grassroots advocacy group Common Cause says the decision is a victory for voters. “This was a sweeping affirmation of the California model, which allows citizens to draw the lines rather than legislators picking and choosing their voters.”
Kathay Feng of Common Cause L.A. says the new open, public redistricting process spelled an end to back-room deals meant to create safe seats. “There were more than a dozen incumbents who either decided not to run, or who were defeated in elections because they didn’t have the guaranteed re-election that they used to, when district lines were drawn by the Legislature.”
The next redistricting will take place in 2021, the year after the next census.
