California Citizens Redistricting Commission Defends Final District Realignment Draft

In response to a larger than usual amount of criticism to the new Congressional, Assembly, and state Senate lines released last week, the California Citizens Redistricting Commission defended their work on Monday noting multiple factors, including a rise in the Latino population, as well as California losing a Congressional seat.

“In order to please and honor the desires of some, we knew that we would disappoint others, and for me that was a heartbreaking process,” said Democratic redistricting Commissioner Rev. Trena Turner on Monday. “And it seemed to me that it would be so easy if we had a square state, if we didn’t lose a congressional seat.”

Isra Ahman, the Commission Chairwoman with no party affiliation, agreed saying that “It was messy. And that’s the beauty of democracy. The maps we created and approved are far from perfect, but they represent the wishes of the people of California who transformed the redistricting process from one that used to take place behind closed doors to one that is public and fully transparent.”

Defense of the Commission

Republicans on the commission also defended the commissions final redistricting draft on Monday, specifically denying that any district was gerrymandered.

“Just because a district looks kind of complicated does not mean it’s gerrymandered,” said Republican commission Vice Chairman Russell Yee. “Often it’s the most fair, especially given California’s complicated geography, demography. “I would say this was the most open, most participatory redistricting process in all history. In our nation right now where others, unfortunately, in some places have been working to further restrict voting rights and to make redistricting less accessible, we in California here are doing just the opposite.”

Commission members also pointed directly to many states that don’t operate by redistricting commissions that are more susceptible to gerrymandering and a single party having an unfair influence on how districts are realigned.

Many redistricting experts noted on Monday that the Commission isn’t to blame for any disputed lines.

“Yeah, they set them, but it’s the result of months of compromise and making sure they fit under the Constitution,” explained Emmet Price, a lawyer who has been involved in several local city redistricting  complaints, to the Globe on Monday. “The people you should blame is the U.S. Census Bureau who likely got in inaccurate numbers. Huge undercount according to models. So if numbers seem wonky, that’s why. Julie Lam and her whole crew on the West Coast should be ashamed. They had one job to do and they blew it. You mess up the data, everything else follows. And now the people of California are suffering as a result.”