California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission has one task, and one only: to take census data gathered every decade and draw new boundaries for state, legislative and congressional districts through a public and transparent process that’s free from political manipulation. It’s not looking good, and that’s a problem not just for the commission, but for the future of democracy. The whole point of this commission was to put an end to the wheeling and backroom dealing by politicians that characterized the state’s redistricting process up until 2010, and still does in most states. It’s not reassuring that the only response from the commission so far is to say members will discuss the accusations at Thursday’s public meeting. There’s more riding on this than just the integrity of the commission’s final political maps, though that is important.

Source: Los Angeles Times May 13, 2021 12:00 UTC