Stop Legislators From Drawing Districts
“First There Was the Recall, Now We Need the Revamp,” by Ted Costa (Commentary, Dec. 11), diagnoses accurately a fundamental problem in California’s politics. Incumbents in the Legislature have made their races noncompetitive by drawing the lines for the districts in which they run. But Costa’s proposed cure is unlikely to work. Even having retired judges draw district lines would leave many races uncompetitive in areas where one party or the other dominated.
Instead, we should make every California legislative race competitive overnight by adopting a simple and time-tested method used by most advanced democracies. We should adopt a system of full representation, wherein legislators run in large districts -- or even statewide -- and voters select a number of winners, not just one. Then the importance of the district line virtually disappears because every candidate will face others strong enough to win approval from voters.
Rob Noblin
Los Alamitos
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