Vandermost

On December 9, 2011, we issued an order to show cause in this matter to consider an election-related question that must be addressed expeditiously to avoid potential disruption of the statewide primary and general elections to be held in June and November 2012. A proposed referendum (designated No. 1499), for which petition signatures have been gathered and submitted to election officials, would require the electorate to decide, at the November 2012 general election, whether to accept or reject the California state Senate district map that has been certified by the Citizens Redistricting Commission (sometimes the Commission). 1 The Commission, a new constitutional entity recently established by the voters to draw voting district boundaries (instead of the Legislature) 2 in light of population changes identified in the national census undertaken at the beginning of each decade, completed its eight-month-long task in August 2011 and certified new voting district maps for not only the state Senate, but also for the state Assembly, the United States Congress, and the Board of Equalization. The Secretary of State and county election officials have been using these four…

More than a half century ago, Justice Felix Frankfurter observed that “[t]he one stark fact that emerges from a study of the history of [legislative] apportionment is its embroilment in politics, in the sense of party contests and party interests.” (Colegrove v. Green (1946) 328 U.S. 549, 554 [ 90 L.Ed. 1432 , 66 S.Ct. 1198 ] (plur. opn. of Frankfurter, J.).) Faced with entreaties by litigants seeking judicial intervention in the redistricting process, Justice Frankfurter famously warned that “[c]ourts ought not to enter this political thicket.” (Id. at p. 556.) Although the law has not adopted the uncompromising version of this principle urged by Justice Frankfurter (see, e.g., Reynolds v. Sims (1964) 377 U.S. 533 [ 12 L.Ed.2d 506 , 84 S.Ct. 1362 ]; Baker v. Carr (1962) 369 U.S. 186 [ 7 L.Ed.2d 663 , 82 S.Ct. 691 ]), his admonition continues to resonate each decade when courts are asked to decide what are fundamentally political disputes. Judicial restraint is especially important in the context of legislative redistricting because, as the high court recently observed, “experience has shown the difficulty of defining neutral legal principles in this area.” (Perry v. Perez (2012)…

Filed 1/27/

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA

JULIE VANDERMOST, )

) Petitioner, ) ) v. ) )

DEBRA BOWEN, )

as Secretary of State, etc., ) S198387 ) Respondent; ) )

CITIZENS REDISTRICTING )

COMMISSION, )

) Intervener. ) ___________________________________ )

On December 9, 2011, we issued an order to show cause in this matter to consider an election-related question that must be addressed expeditiously to avoid potential disruption of the statewide primary and general elections to be held in June and November 2012. A proposed referendum (designated No. 1499), for which petition signatures have been gathered and submitted to election officials, would require the electorate to decide, at the November 2012 general election, whether to accept or reject the California state Senate district map that has been certified by the Citizens Redistricting Commission (Commission).1 The Commission, a new constitutional entity

Under the California Constitution, the referendum power refers to the authority of the…