[Marxism] The Green Party and California Redistricting Initiative

[Brian Shannon <Brian_Shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The way California's legislative districts are drawn will be on
November's special election ballot. The measure would take aware the
power of redistricting from the legislature and give that power to a
panel of retired judges.

Schwarzenegger claims that this is the most important measure on the
ballot and is using it to make gains for the Republican Party. Since
the legislature is in the hands of the Democratic Party (part of the
winner-takes-all system of U.S. elections), it is easy to see how this
would result in a gain for the Republicans. His main arguing point is
fairness requires that it be taken out of the hands of the legislature
and given to independent judges.

This is an excellent opportunity for supporters of Proportional
Representation to launch a big campaign to explain Proportional
Representation would benefit voters, who under PR would be able to
choose candidates that actually represent their views instead of having
to choose between two parties, neither of which represent their views.

Under PR, congressional districts would be combined and voters could
vote by preference. If, for example, out of a field of 10
congresspeople, 10 percent chose a Green Party candidate as their first
choice, that person would go to Congress. Since California is the
largest state and has 53 representatives, it is obvious that the Greens
and perhaps one or two other left-wing independent parties would be
able to win.

A couple of weeks ago, one of the Green Party groups held a forum on
the subject, but at this point it seems that nothing is happening. In
other words, there is no plan to fight for PR, and they are losing a
great opportunity to put themselves before the public as an advocate of
democracy and meaningful electoral reform.

The campaign should be to defeat the initiative and win individuals and
organizational allies for a future reform in favor of PR.

For California districts,
http://www.sen.ca.gov/ftp/sen/cngplan/newtextdocument.htp

Brian Shannon

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