Citizen shortage

One of California’s landmark electoral achievements could use the public’s help. A public commission to redraw election boundaries and keep the job out of hands of selfdealing politicians needs more applicants with a deadline a week away.

The Citizens Redistricting Commission is short of a diverse pool of applications, looking for more women, Latinos and Asian Americans. The whole idea of the panel is to represent the state’s population mix in designing federal and legislative district lines.

The commission has attracted some 10,000 applicants, according to State Auditor Elaine Howle, who will pick the 14member group. In 2012, there were 30,000 applications for the panel’s initial effort.

Set up by public vote in 2008, the commission uses onceadecade census numbers to redraw congressional and state legislative boundaries and end the abuses of gerrymandering that allow politicians to compose lines that favor themselves. With voting rights and ballot access becom

ing national issues, there’s no better example of a solution than independent remapping panels.

The commission has builtin features to keep it honest. Members can’t have connections to office holders, and the group should represent California’s overall demographics. That’s where the problem is showing: two thirds of the applicants are white in a state where Anglos are just over a third of the residents.

There needs to be a bigger pool. Signing up and checking qualifications takes only a few minutes and can be done at www.shapecaliforniasfuture.auditor.ca.gov. The deadline is Aug. 8, and several voting rights groups are asking for an extension to broaden the pool, an idea worth considering if the numbers don’t improve.

Political leaders don’t always like to share power, especially when it comes to keeping their districts challengerproof strongholds. That game chops up communities, undercuts vote turnouts and makes a mockery of elections. California has crafted a serious answer and it’s time for the public to sign up.