Supreme Court Decision Upholds Citizen-Driven Redistricting in California

Nicolas Heidorn

(510) 798-3425

Today the U.S. Supreme Court issued a sweeping decision upholding the right of Californians to reform elections through ballot initiatives and preserving the power of California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission to draw Congressional districts.  Justice Ginsberg wrote the majority opinion in Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, stating that “the invention of the initiative was in full harmony with the Constitution’s conception of the people as the font of governmental power.”

California Common Cause issued the following statement on the decision:

Statement by Kathay Feng, Common Cause National Redistricting Director and California Executive Director:

“Today, voters win. The Supreme Court has resoundingly upheld the right of We the People to take redistricting out of secret backrooms run by politicians and into the public light of citizen-driven commissions. Like Arizonans, Californians demanded fair and transparent redistricting that prioritizes the voice of the public over politics. Today, the Supreme Court affirmed that citizens can use direct democracy to take the foxes out of the statehouse.”

The opinion can be found here.

For more information, contact Nicolas Heidorn at (510) 798-3425 or nheidorn@commoncause.org.