Should Sacramento pass a law to end partisan redistricting in SLO County? It’s worth a shot

In three California counties accused of violating voting rights — Kern, Riverside and Fresno — county supervisors have been stripped of their redistricting power.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed three separate bills Sunday setting up bipartisan, 14-member redistricting commissions in each county. The bills were sponsored by assembly members in response to complaints from citizens and civil rights organizations in their districts.

In each of the three cases, county supervisors had adopted maps that diluted the power of Latino voters.

In Fresno County, 53.4% of residents are Latino, up from about 35% in 1990. Yet district lines have essentially remained unchanged for years.

In Kern County, a federal judge ruled in 2018 that the map adopted in 2011 violated the Federal Voting Rights Act by denying Latinos the ability to vote for the candidates of their choice.

And in Riverside County, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California argued that there should be at least two Latino-majority districts to reflect changing demographics.

These three cases were especially egregious, and we applaud the Legislature and the governor for acting to correct an injustice.

But they aren’t unique. As we’ve seen in San Luis Obispo County, gerrymandering happens for a variety of reasons.

In our case, it was done for political reasons. The map adopted by the Republican majority on the Board of Supervisors packed Democrats into two districts, giving Republicans an edge even though Democrats are in the majority countywide.

The radical redrawing divided the North Coast — a homogeneous area that had been in a single district for decades — seemingly for the sole purpose of keeping Republicans in power.

It also shifted Oceano — a Democratic stronghold — out of District 4, where a Republican incumbent faced a tough reelection battle. (She lost anyway.)

The San Luis Obispo County map has been challenged in court. A case management conference is scheduled for Oct. 6, but it could take months or even years for a final decision.

In the meantime, elections will continue to be held, using a map that could ultimately be found legally flawed.

This is no way to run a government.

Citizens should not be forced to go to court every 10 years — at their own expense — to force counties to follow the law.

But that will continue as long as we stick with the current system that allows each Board of Supervisors to choose a map.

Yes, they are required to consider public comment, but the ultimate decision rests with them.

That’s absurd. Allowing politicians to draw their own boundaries is a blatant conflict of interest.

An independent, bipartisan commission may not be the perfect answer, but it’s far better than the current system.

That should be a statewide requirement, not a piecemeal, county-by-county response.

Ideally, the Legislature will pass — and the governor will sign — a bill requiring every county, no matter its size, to turn the duty of redistricting over to independent commissions.

It shouldn’t be voluntary, as it is now. As we’ve seen, most county boards aren’t interested in surrendering power to a commission.

As an insurance policy, though, we urge our local state representatives to craft legislation similar to the bills passed for Kern, Fresno and Riverside counties.

It’s impossible to have free and fair elections if boundaries are manipulated to give certain groups an unfair advantage.

Voters in every county — whether it’s Los Angeles, Fresno or San Luis Obispo — deserve to be heard.