Pro-prop tour comes to Fresno State next month

RV tour promoting Proposition 77 will roll through 15 campuses over next 2 weeks

By Laban Pelz
The Collegian

Proponents of Proposition 77 spoke with university reporters in a conference call Monday to promote the “What Are YOUR Boundaries” RV Tour that will roll its way to Fresno State Nov. 5.

Put on by Mobilize.org, the RV will have interactive exhibits and educational materials, and RV staff will talk with students about the measure. Fresno State is one of 15 California campuses on the tour’s schedule.

If passed, Proposition 77 would take the power to draw voting districts out of politicians’ hands and give it to three retired judges. Proponents say the measure will create a fairer and more competitive voting system, while opponents believe it gives too much power to too few people,
“Young people say they don’t feel represented,” said David Smith, executive director of Mobilize.org. “Proposition 77 brings democracy back to California.”

Steve Blackledge, legislative director of the California Public Interest Research group, said politicians currently draw voting districts and divide them to give themselves majorities.

Chellie Pingree, president of Common Cause, said the passing of Proposition 77 would give more choices to California voters. She cited incumbents’ high success rate as a result of voters having no options.

“Clearly district boundaries are drawn in such a way that incumbents are protected,” Pingree said, likening politicians’ ability to draw district lines to a fox guarding the henhouse.

While Proposition 77’s supporters say the measure benefits voters and not politicians, opponents say the measure is supported by legislators trying to garner even more power, as the judges redrawing districts would be decided by politicians.

Another problem opponents have with Proposition 77 is they say it would use old census data to redraw voting districts. Additionally, opponents say judges have no place making such decisions.

Blackledge said judges are needed because they have no political motivation, as they don’t benefit from elections. Even if judges did have motivation, he said, they would still be better than politicians at drawing voting districts.

“Right now we have politicians picking constituents,” Blackledge said.

Ned Wigglesworth, an analyst for TheRestofUs.org, said Proposition 77 should interest students because they “run into a preexisting power structure.

“We’ve run into the same problems in Ohio,” he said. “Competition has been drained from the system.”

Wigglesworth said some voting districts around the country have become so polarized that the primary race is the whole election.

When a reporter from UC Berkeley’s Daily Californian expressed concern Monday that Proposition 77 isn’t a good enough solution to major problem, Assemblyman Joseph Canciamilla, D-11th District, said “it’s not perfect, but it’s better than the current process. If it turns out to be problematic, it’s not hard to fix.”

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