Remap Madness

This didn't take long. Voters in California and Ohio defeated redistricting initiatives in November, but because the issue has become so potent for political reformers, a new attempt is already being launched in California.

The folks who brought the state Proposition 77, which would have taken redistricting out of the hands of the legislature and put it in the hands of retired judges, have a new plan. In this version, a citizens' commission will do the drawing.

Maybe they're hoping that citizens will enjoy the idea of other citizens making maps, better than those stinky old retired judges. In the meantime, California's top legislative leaders have said publicly they'll change the current system. The rumor in Sacramento, I'm told, is that they'll give up redistricting in exchange for a loosening of the state's term limits laws. We'll see.

MORE ON REDISTRICTING: Governing, October 2005.