(a)This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Fair And Inclusive Redistricting for Municipalities And Political Subdivisions (FAIR MAPS) Act of 2023.
(b)In enacting this chapter, the Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1)The California Constitution guarantees to the people equal protection of the law and provides that the Legislature shall prohibit improper practices that affect elections.
(2)Ensuring the integrity, fairness, transparency, and accessibility of the local redistricting process is a matter of statewide
interest and concern.
(3)Prohibiting discriminatory local redistricting practices, including racially discriminatory gerrymandering, partisan gerrymandering, and incumbency protection gerrymandering, is a matter of statewide interest and
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(a)
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Fair And Inclusive Redistricting for Municipalities And Political Subdivisions (FAIR MAPS) Act of 2023.
(b)
In enacting this chapter, the Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1)
The California Constitution guarantees to the people equal protection of the law and provides that the Legislature shall prohibit improper practices that affect elections.
(2)
Ensuring the integrity, fairness, transparency, and accessibility of the local redistricting process is a matter of statewide
interest and concern.
(3)
Prohibiting discriminatory local redistricting practices, including racially discriminatory gerrymandering, partisan gerrymandering, and incumbency protection gerrymandering, is a matter of statewide interest and concern.
(4)
Protecting the people from unrepresentative and dilutive local electoral systems is a matter of statewide interest and concern.
(5)
As a result of changes to state law governing the city and county redistricting process that were included in the FAIR MAPS Act (Chapter 557 of the Statutes of 2019), the adjustment of district boundaries in cities and counties during the 2020 redistricting cycle was more transparent, participatory, and representative than in prior years.
(6)
Notwithstanding these improvements to the redistricting process, research evaluating the 2020 redistricting cycle demonstrates that improvements to the FAIR MAPS Act are necessary to address ambiguities, loopholes, and deficiencies in the legislation that prevented the law’s important goals from being fully realized.
(7)
This chapter addresses a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution. Therefore, this chapter applies to all cities, including charter cities, except as specified.
(c)
The purpose of this chapter is to do all of the following:
(1)
Implement the
guarantees of the California Constitution, including Sections 2, 3, and 7 of Article I and Sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Article II.
(2)
Ensure the integrity, fairness, transparency, and accessibility of the local redistricting process, prohibit discriminatory local redistricting practices, and protect the people from unrepresentative and dilutive local electoral systems.
(3)
Establish requirements to ensure minimum standards of transparency and accessibility in the local redistricting process so that the public is able to provide information to assist their local governments in adopting fair and equitable district maps.
(4)
Establish mandatory districting and redistricting criteria to promote fair and effective representation for
all people, neighborhoods, and communities, and particularly for disadvantaged, historically marginalized, under-resourced, low-income, and underrepresented neighborhoods and communities.
(5)
Establish ranked criteria that prioritize keeping whole neighborhoods and communities of interest together, facilitate political organization and constituent representation, and prohibit gerrymandering, including incumbent-protection gerrymandering.
(6)
Provide a means for residents to hold their local governments accountable for conducting a fair and transparent redistricting process and adopting district maps that comply with this chapter.
(d)
This chapter shall be liberally construed to effectuate its purposes.