If you only vote yes on one proposition today, make sure it is Prop. 77, the redistricting initiative. This may be the most important initiative on the ballot in terms of the actual and symbolic message it will send to the legislators of California. Prop. 77 will change the redistricting process for the state legislature, the state board of education, and the California members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The way redistricting works right now is every 10 years, after the census information has been collected, the legislators engage in a process known as gerrymandering. The legislators manipulate the established districts to group together a majority of their own constituents based on the census data in order to ensure the incumbents remain in power. This process is completely evident in our last statewide election where 133 congressional districts were up for grabs, but no incumbent lost their seat. How does that constitute democracy? What chance do we have when the legislators can rearrange their district every 10 years to best suit their needs, not ours?

The passing of this proposition will send them a message. It will be as louder and bolder than any message that has ever been sent to Sacramento. This proposition seeks to restore the democracy that these politicians have stolen from the voters. They have taken away our voice, and this proposition will give it back.

Don’t believe the commercials you see on TV. A lot of people have paid millions of dollars to maintain the status quo here in California because it directly benefits them. One such person is California State Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez. He has spoken openly about his opposition to Prop. 77. He has even contributed to the anti-77 commercials being shown on TV. You know the ones I’m talking about. The three old, white judges who can’t decide how to slice up California to form better districts. The commercial makes these judges seem incompetent, which is exactly how the anti-77 groups want people to see them. They want the average, uninformed voter to believe that we will lose our right to reject the redistricting plan. They want us to believe this process will cost us millions of dollars. They want us to believe that these judges will be unaccountable to anyone because they are not elected. They basically want us to believe lies.

Everything being said in these commercials is either a lie or a gross distortion of the truth. There are a great number of requirements for the members of the three judge panel that would redistrict California. One set of criteria is the judges must not have held any political office. They must not have changed their party affiliation since their judicial appointment. Finally, they must not have received any income over the past year from specified political sources. The Judicial Council randomly selects from all the qualified volunteers and forms a 24 person pool of judges. The two larges political parties must have equal representation in this pool. The legislators then go through a complicated process of selecting, voting on, and appointing a panel of three judges to develop a redistricting plan for California.

Once the panel is approved, they will begin creating a redistricting plan for California. In developing this plan, the panel must hold public hearings to receive input from the public and the Legislature. The panel must unanimously approve this plan. It will then be placed on the next general election ballot for the voters to decide on. If the plan passes it will be used until the next census is completed and redistricting is required again. If it doesn’t pass a new panel will be selected through the same process and they will prepare a new plan for the next general election.

So here are the facts: The judicial volunteers for the panel are subjected to a strict set of requirements to ensure nonpartisan participants; the two largest parties must have equal representation on the panel to ensure the fairness; and the plan developed by the panel must be approved by the voters before it is implemented. Another important tidbit that these commercials fail to mention is this redistricting plan would cost about half as much as it currently does when the politicians do it themselves. In 2001, legislators spent about $3 million to redistrict California. This proposition limits that amount to half that – about $1.5 million. There would also be a one time cost of about $1 million to redistrict California immediately following the election. But these are paltry sums in the grand scope of the California budget. If the cost of democracy is around $2.5 million, I’d gladly pay it. Democracy deserves better than what we are currently giving it. Vote yes on Prop. 77. Democracy belongs to the people, not the politicians.