On June 4, the California Assembly Republican leader, Assemblyman Mike Villines, introduced ACA 4. It would provide that congressional and legislative district boundaries should be drawn by an independent Citizens Commission. The members would be selected randomly from the ranks of registered voters, although service would be voluntary. The Commission would consist of 4 Democrats, 4 Republicans, and 3 independent or minor party voters. Final maps would need approval from a majority of each of the three groups on the Commission. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.
Ballot Access News
Edited By Richard Winger
This proposal contains an element of the very successful Citizens’ Assemblies in British Columbia and Ontario. Both were created to consider real electoral reform and both decided on proportional alternatives to the winner-take-all rules that Canada shares with the U.S.
This commission would only consider boundaries around single-member districts and therefore would not be asked to think about meaningful solutions to our real problems. But the bill does introduce part of the Citizens’ Assembly concept: bring together ordinary citizens to consider questions of governance, one which politicians have inherent conflicts on interest.
The devil is in the details — specifically, who would select the support staff and technical experts? They would have enormous influence over the boundaries chosen.
It’ll never work. No plan will get both a majority (really 3/4) of the Democrats AND a majority (really 3/4) of the Republicans.
Since the plan is designed to produce a statemate, what’s the backup (e.g., the courts?), and what is the political complexion of the backup.
Regardless of the details, it’s a great start!
Can you provide some more details on this?
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