Supervisors to Consider Independent Redistricting Commission

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors Tuesday will consider an effort to turn over redistricting in the future to an independent commission of retired judges.

To do so, the county will have to sponsor legislation to change the state elections code, which currently gives redistricting power at the county level to supervisors, according to Supervisor Greg Cox.

He plans to ask his colleagues to support changing the state code and have county staff develop a plan to create a panel of retired judges and appropriate amendments to the County Charter.

Redistricting is done every 10 years to adjust the boundaries of supervisorial districts in accordance with updated U.S. census data. The final product must meet provisions of the Voting Rights Act.

This year, a commission appointed by the supervisors ran the demographic numbers, held numerous public meetings and offered three tentative plans. The supervisors chose one and eventually approved a modified version.

The supervisors came under criticism for keeping power over the makeup of their districts in a year in which both the state of California and city of San Diego had independent commissions develop and give final approval to their new maps.

“The voting public has clearly indicated support for an independent redistricting process that precludes elected officials from establishing their own district boundaries,” Cox wrote in a memo to his colleagues.

-City News Service