California Proposition 20 (2010)

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A California Congressional Redistricting Initiative, Proposition 20 was on the November 2, 2010 ballot in California. It was approved by 61.2% of voters. [1] Election officials announced on May 5 that the proposition had collected sufficient signatures to qualify for the ballot. [2] The measure is known by its supporters as the VOTERS FIRST Act for Congress.

California State of the United States of America

California is a state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With 39.6 million residents, California is the most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area. The state capital is Sacramento. The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second and fifth most populous urban regions, with 18.7 million and 8.8 million residents respectively. Los Angeles is California's most populous city, and the country's second most populous, after New York City. California also has the nation's most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The City and County of San Francisco is both the country's second-most densely populated major city after New York City and the fifth-most densely populated county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs.

Contents

The Congressional Redistricting Initiative:

Ballot language was filed by Charles Munger, Jr., who was also Proposition 20's largest financial supporter. Munger, the son of billionaire Charlie Munger, was a supporter of Proposition 11 in 2008, which created a new way for political districts to be drawn for California's state legislators and its state Board of Equalization.

Charlie Munger American business magnate, lawyer, investor, and philanthropist

Charles Thomas Munger is an American investor, businessman and philanthropist. He is vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate controlled by Warren Buffett; Buffett has described Munger as his partner. Munger served as chairman of Wesco Financial Corporation from 1984 through 2011. He is also chairman of the Daily Journal Corporation, based in Los Angeles, California, and a director of Costco Wholesale Corporation.

A competing initiative that also qualified for the November 2 ballot, California Proposition 27 (2010), sought to repeal Proposition 11.

Proposition 20 and Proposition 27 each had a so-called "poison pill" provision. This means that if they both received a majority vote, the proposition that received the highest majority vote is the law that would go into effect. Since Proposition 20 passed but Proposition 27 did not, neither provision was triggered.

Ballot language

Ballot title
Text of Proposition 20, the "Voters FIRST Act for Congress"
Official summary
Removes elected representatives from the process of establishing congressional districts and transfers that authority to recently authorized 14-member redistricting commission comprised of Democrats, Republicans, and representatives of neither party.
Summary of estimated fiscal impact
No significant net change in state redistricting costs. [3]

Congressional re-districting

If this initiative had not succeeded, the next Governor of California and members of the California State Legislature would have chosen how to draw lines for however many U.S. Congressional districts California is determined to be entitled to after the 2010 census. Estimates are that California will have somewhere between 52 and 54 seats in congress after those census calculations are completed. [4]

Governor of California head of state and of government of the U.S. state of California

The Governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The California Governor is the chief executive of the state government and the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Military Reserve.

California State Legislature state legislature of the U.S. state of California

The California State Legislature is a bicameral legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legislature convene at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The California State Legislature is one of just ten full-time state legislatures in the United States.

From 2000 to 2010, the population in California has undergone a major shift eastward, with people moving to California's inland areas from its coastal enclaves. This means that California's congressional district boundaries will certainly undergo major upheaval after the 2010 census. As one example, the San Francisco Bay Area grew less than 1% since the last redistricting, while the Central Valley area has grown by 21%. Los Angeles County has grown 5%, while San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial Counties have grown by 17%. [5]

Another notable factor is that California's population hasn't grown relative to the population of the rest of the United States, and may even have proportionally shrunk. There were fears at the time that California could lose one or two seats in Congress. [5] In the end California's representation in Congress remained the same, which was the first time the state had not increased its congressional representation since the reapportionment following the 1920 census.

Constitutional changes

Proposition 20 amended three sections of Article XXI of the California Constitution.

The three sections are:

Support

Supporters

Charles Munger launched the campaign to qualify the Congressional Redistricting Initiative for the 2010 ballot. Munger was also a key supporter of 2008's Proposition 11, having given about $2 million to that effort. [6]

The New York Times characterized Proposition 20's supporters as "an unlikely collection of election-reform groups, civil rights nonprofits and former officials from both major parties who say that the current system of redistricting has left politicians unaccountable." [7]

Supporters of Proposition 20 included:

A full list of the supporters of Proposition 20 is available from the "Yes on Proposition 20" website.

Arguments in favor

Arguments were submitted to the official California Voter Guide on behalf of a "yes" vote on Proposition 20, as were rebuttals to the arguments provided by Prop 20 opponents. The signers of these arguments were:

The arguments made on behalf of Proposition 20 focus on these themes:

Opposition

Opposition to Proposition 20 is primarily driven by the supporters of Proposition 27.

Donors against

State Rep. Charles Calderon, a $100,000 donor to the "Yes on 27" campaign.

Two campaign committees have officially registered in opposition to Proposition 20. Through September 22, neither of the committees specifically aimed at Proposition 20 had received any contributions to speak of. They are:

However, due to the fact that California Proposition 27 contains "poison pill" language with respect to Proposition 20, any money spent to promote a "yes" vote on Proposition 27 amounts to money spent to hurt Proposition 20, and vice versa.

That main campaign committee endorsing a "yes" vote on California Proposition 27 has raised millions of dollars, including a substantial amount of money from 17 members of the California's delegation to the U.S. Congress as well as members of the California State Legislature.

Arguments against

Arguments were submitted to the official California Voter Guide urging a "no" vote on Proposition 20, as were rebuttals to the arguments provided by Prop 20 supporters. The signers of these arguments were:

The themes of the main arguments they make against Proposition 20 (and in favor of Proposition 27) are:

Editorial opinion

Yes on Prop 20

Newspapers that have editorialized in favor of Proposition 20 include:

No on Prop 20

Path to the ballot

694,354 signatures were required to qualify the initiative for the ballot. Supporters turned in 1,180,623 signature in mid-March 2010, and election officials announced on May 5, 2010 that after an inspection process, the signatures met or exceeded the minimum threshold for ballot qualification. [2]

The petition drive management company hired to collect the signatures was National Petition Management. NPM was paid $1,937,380 (through May 6) for their signature-gathering services. [25]

Results

Proposition 20
Choice Votes %
Yes check.svg Yes5,743,16261.3
No 3,637,062 38.7
Valid votes 9,380,224 91.0
Invalid or blank votes 922,100 9.0
Total votes10,302,324100.00

[26]

Basic information

Supporters

Opponents

Additional reading

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References

  1. "California Secretary of State", "State Ballot Measures, Election Results, November 2, 2010"
  2. 1 2 Sacramento Bee, "Ballot measure to expand Prop 11 to Congress OK'd", May 5, 2010
  3. July 2 version of the ballot label for Proposition 20, Congressional Redistricting
  4. Modesto Bee, "Stage set for epic bloodletting", October 31, 2009
  5. 1 2 San Diego Union Tribune, "Inland population tilt will reshape districts", November 16, 2009
  6. From The Capitol, "Redistricting Commission repeal gets boost from House Dems", February 2, 2010
  7. New York Times, "Tackling Redistricting With Money and Zeal", October 7, 2010
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Official Voter Guide for Proposition 20
  9. KQED-TV, "Give Redistricting Back To Legislature?", December 29, 2009
  10. Contra Costa Times, "Contra Costa Times editorial: We recommend yes on Proposition 20, no on 27", September 6, 2010
  11. Lompoc Record, "Props. 20, 27: The flip sides of real change", October 1, 2010
  12. Long Beach Press-Telegram, "Yes on Prop. 20, no on Prop. 27", September 13, 2010
  13. Los Angeles Daily News, "Vote yes on Prop. 20, no on Prop. 27 for a much improved political system", September 14, 2010
  14. Los Angeles Times, "Drawing the lines: Democrats prosper by drawing themselves solidly Democratic seats, and Republicans benefit equally by lines drawn to protect their elected officials. It's time to undo this system, so yes on Prop. 20 and no on Prop. 27.", September 24, 2010
  15. North County Times, "Yes on Prop. 20, No on 27", August 31, 2010
  16. Orange County Register, "Extend redistricting reform to Congress", September 16, 2010
  17. Riverside Press Enterprise, "Yes on 20; no on 27", September 7, 2010
  18. San Bernardino Sun, "Vote to improve our government", September 28, 2010
  19. San Diego Union Tribune, "Redistricting reforms must advance", September 7, 2010
  20. Santa Rosa Press Democrat, "Yes on Prop. 20, no on 27"
  21. Santa Cruz Sentinel, "As We See It: Yes on 20, No on 27", October 3, 2010
  22. San Gabriel Valley Tribune, "Yes on Prop. 20 for fair districts", September 28, 2010
  23. Ventura County Star, "Prop. 20: Yes Prop. 27: No way", September 2, 2010
  24. Sacramento Bee, "Leave redistricting reform alone - No on Propositions 20 and 27", September 17, 2010
  25. Campaign expenditures, VOTERS FIRST
  26. "For the November 2, 2010, Statewide General Election County Summary Status". California Secretary of State's office. November 3, 2010. p. 37. Retrieved November 3, 2010.