Common Cause blasts referendum targeting new Senate districts
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The head of California Common Cause said Wednesday that a Republican-backed referendum drive to overturn new Senate districts is the work of ‘partisan insiders’ and is attacking a plan that reflects the will of voters who approved an independent redistricting process.
‘This referendum is motivated by pure party politics, funded by incumbents who did not get the safe districts that they wanted,’ said Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause.
Her organization was one of several that supported a 2008 ballot measure that created the 14-member Citizens Redistricting Commission, taking the job of redrawing legislative districts away from lawmakers.
A referendum drive supported by the California Republican Party and Senate Republican Caucus has filed papers required before groups can begin collecting signatures to put the new districts before the voters.
‘They have made a variety of baseless claims that ignore the fact that the maps were approved by a super-majority of commissioners of both parties and independents and were drawn in a fair and open process with public input at every step,” Feng added.
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-- Patrick McGreevy
