How to know if your district is being gerrymandered

The redistricting process can appear arcane, but concerned residents should be wary of the redrawing of political boundaries, as the process can be done in bad faith and with nefarious goals. Jackson Reese, vice president of the California Policy Center, outlines what citizens should be on the watch for when local politicians start messing with the maps.

Opportunity Now: There's much concern in Santa Clara County abou/* do t a proposed redistricting that would dilute the Vietnamese community's vote andy essentially redistrict center-right candidates out of running in historically more conservative districts. What should people be looking for if they suspect something is amiss?

Jackson Reese: It's generally a red flag in a potential gerrymander if the redistricting process prioritizes a dominant political community instead of real communities of interest such as ethnic groups or long-standing, established neighborhoods. The redistricting process is supposed to respect those types of communities of interest and keep them together. So one thing to keep an eye out for is partisan breakdown ofpast voting records —is this new map likely prioritize partisanship over real communities of interest?

ON: Many people in the Vietnamese community are floored that their long-standing neighborhoods appear to be getting sliced up across different districts, effectively diluting their vote.

JR: According to the law, the county should be keeping communities like that together, instead of cutting them up to create political communities of interest instead.

ON: Center-right candidate Johnny Khamis looked like the leading candidate in a historically conservative district. Check this out: the map redistricts him out of that area, so he can't run for that district without moving. That looks pretty dubious.

JR: Look, the goal of redistricting is to better represent the voters. That should be obvious. In these Santa Clara County instances, there's a fair concern that existing communities, or the decisions of past voters, are being sacrificed. If a map is looking wonky or a point is being made to bully a politician out of their district, it raises red flags. While it may not be against the letter of the law, it goes against the spirit of why we do the redistricting process at all.

For more on California Policy Center, read here.

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Photo taken by Davecito.