Professor Chavez Authors Comments on Prop. 11

Professor Anthony Chavez published a commentary on Proposition 11, the redistricting initiative set for the November state ballot, in the San Jose Mercury-News on October 21.  The essay argued that Prop. 11 would not be effective in creating more politically-balanced districts or in reducing partisanship in the Legislature as the measure's supporters claim.  Instead, it would shift redistricting authority from the Legislature to an unrepresentative, appointed commission and create a new set of problems. 

"Prop. 11 would create a redistricting commission that is unqualified, unrepresentative, and unaccountable," wrote Professor Chavez.

Anthony Chavez is the Director of the Legal Research and Writing Program at the UC Davis School of Law.  He also teaches a class on the Voting Rights Act based on his litigation experience at the U.S. Department of Justice and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.