A few years ago, Republicans (and some Democrats too, but mainly Republicans) donated money to gather enough signatures to put Proposition 11 on the ballot, which sought to change the way redistricting is done in California. The initiative passed, so a new, nonpartisan commission was appointed which included representation from registered Democrats, Republicans, and "decline to state" (i.e. not registered with a party) voters.
The California legislature was and is majority Democratic, so the intent of this measure was to take power away from a Democratic-controlled redistricting process and give it to a nonpartisan group called the Citizens Redistricting Commission, with the downstream effect being to give greater power to Republicans, or at least remove some of the pro-Democratic bias that was thought to be in the process.
However, the maps the group came up with, which were supposed to be based on geographic boundaries as much as possible (trying not to cut up cities or make other strange shaped areas based mainly on trying to create a safe seat), ended up having what is a projected to be a negative effect for Republicans. In fact, it may even end up pushing them below the 1/3 of the state legislature they need to block anything the Democrats want to do.
From the LA Times,
A nonpartisan citizens commission, established by ballot initiative, adopted new election maps last summer for the state's 40 Senate districts. Republicans said the plan would reduce their numbers in the Legislature, possibly so much that Democrats would have the two-thirds majority needed to raise taxes.
So, what do you think happened next? You guessed it! Some other Republicans have come up with a new initiative and have gathered signatures for that, with the intent of the new one being to overturn the previous initiative. They have now submitted those signatures for verification to go on the ballot. It appears to be a squeaker but it looks like they probably have enough to qualify.
As a result, now the California Supreme Court is hearing a challenge to the current boundaries for state Senate districts based on the fact that this new initiative is likely to go before voters in the future. The plaintiffs are the ones gathering the new signatures.
Attorney Charles Bell, representing FAIR, told the justices that using the contested maps would not be fair to voters who have exercised their legal right to challenge them.
GOP urges high court to dump new voter maps
A group of California Republicans is seeking to dump new Senate districts planned for this year's election, drawing the state Supreme Court into the once-a-decade fight over drawing political boundaries.
SOS website
Initiative Pending Signature Verification
1499. (11-0028) - Final Random Sample Update – 01/10/12
Redistricting. State Senate Districts. Referendum.
Summary Date: 08/26/11 | Full Check Deadline: 02/24/12 | Signatures Required: 504,760
Proponent: Julie Vandermost c/o Charles H. Bell, Jr. (916) 442-7757
State Senate districts are revised every ten years following the federal census. This year, the voter-approved California Citizens Redistricting Commission revised the boundaries of the 40 Senate districts. This referendum petition, if signed by the required number of registered voters and filed with the Secretary of State, will: (1) Place the revised State Senate boundaries on the ballot and prevent them from taking effect unless approved by the voters at the next statewide election; and (2) Require court-appointed officials to set interim boundaries for use in the next statewide election.
My guess is if this initiative does qualify it will fail. Most do, and for the most part people seem reasonably happy with the work of the Citizens Redistricting Commission. I haven't heard much arguing that they went about drawing the lines in an unfair manner. The only unhappiness is from Republicans who are mad that they are losing out when lines are drawn by a nonpartisan group.
I'm not sure what this tells us about the ability of Capitol Dems to draw lines that ought to favor themselves, but in any case I am enjoying the fact that the Republicans managed to shoot themselves in the foot.