Vandermost v. Bowen
| Decision Date | 27 January 2012 |
| Docket Number | No. S198387.,S198387. |
| Citation | 53 Cal.4th 421,137 Cal.Rptr.3d 1,12 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 1119,269 P.3d 446,2012 Daily Journal D.A.R. 1110 |
| Parties | Julie VANDERMOST, Petitioner, v. Debra BOWEN, as Secretary of State, etc., Respondent;Citizens Redistricting Commission, Intervener. |
| Court | California Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, Sacramento, Charles H. Bell, Jr., Thomas W. Hiltachk, Colleen C. McAndrews, Paul T. Gough, Brian T. Hildreth and Ashlee N. Titus for Petitioner.
Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Douglas J. Woods, Assistant Attorney General, Peter A. Krause and George Waters, Deputy Attorneys General; and Lowell Finley for Respondent.
Morrison & Foerster, James J. Brosnahan, George C. Harris, San Francisco, and Benjamin J. Fox, Los Angeles, for Intervener.Remcho, Johansen & Purcell, San Leandro, Robin Johansen and Thomas A. Willis for Senator Darrell Steinberg as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Respondent and Intervener.Kathay Feng, Los Angeles, for California Common Cause as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Intervener.Nielsen Merksamer Parrinello Gross & Leoni, Margueirte Mary Leoni and James R. Parrinello, Sacramento, for Charles T. Munger, Jr., as Amicus Curiae.CANTIL–SAKAUYE, C.J. [1] 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 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 State Board of Equalization. The Secretary of State and county election officials have been using these four Commission-certified maps since mid-August 2011 in preparation for the upcoming June and November 2012 elections.
County election officials and the Secretary of State currently also are in the process of verifying the petitions submitted to determine whether there are sufficient valid signatures to qualify the proposed referendum for placement on the November 2012 general election ballot. If the referendum qualifies, the state Senate map certified by the Commission will automatically be stayed, presenting the question of what Senate districts should be used for the 2012 primary and general elections of the state Senate. In view of the numerous interconnected election-related events that must occur soon after the end of January 2012 in order to avoid disrupting the 2012 primary and general elections,3 this action has been filed requesting this court to decide at this juncture which state Senate district map should be utilized if the proposed referendum qualifies and triggers a stay of the Commission's certified Senate district map.
Petitioner, Julie Vandermost, emphasizes the interest of referendum proponents and petition signers in insisting on an “up or down” referendum vote by the statewide electorate before the voting districts that are the subject of the proposed referendum are utilized as the basis for electing any state senators. Accordingly, she asserts, if the Commission's state Senate map is stayed by the qualification of the referendum for the November 2012 ballot, we should not order the use of the Commission's state Senate district map as an interim remedy governing the 2012 primary and general elections. Indeed, petitioner argues, we should issue an “alternative [or] peremptory writ of mandate commanding Respondent Debra Bowen, in her capacity as Secretary of State of the State of California, to ... refrain from taking any action ... implementing the Citizens Redistricting Commission's certified Senate map.” Moreover, petitioner urges, we should establish new interim state Senate boundaries by either (1) using the state Senate district map that the Legislature created in 2001 based on the 2000 census and that has been used for the last decade; (2) using a map creating new Senate districts by using the state Assembly districts recently certified by the Commission and combining two adjacent Assembly districts to form each new Senate district (the “nesting” proposal); or (3) establishing alternate, court-drawn boundaries as described in a new so-called “model” map based on a proposal submitted by petitioner's redistricting consultant. Finally, petitioner prays for an order directing the Secretary of State to implement whatever new interim district boundaries we select for the June 5, 2012, Primary Election and the November 6, 2012, General Election.4
The Secretary of State and the Commission both urge us to hold that even if the Commission's certified state Senate district map eventually is stayed by the qualification of the proposed referendum, the Commission's map nevertheless should be employed for the 2012 elections. The Secretary of State stresses the need to avoid disruption of the election planning process; both the Secretary and the Commission contest the legality of petitioner's alternative maps; and the Commission emphasizes that the state Senate redistricting map it has certified is the product of an open, deliberate, and nonpartisan process that a majority of California voters created through the exercise of the constitutional initiative power in 2008 and 2010.
As past decisions establish, if a referendum that is directed at a newly adopted redistricting map qualifies for the ballot, triggering a stay of the new redistricting map pending the electorate's vote on the referendum, this court has the responsibility of determining which voting district map should be used for the upcoming interim electoral cycle. (See, e.g., Assembly v. Deukmejian (1982) 30 Cal.3d 638, 657–658, 180 Cal.Rptr. 297, 639 P.2d 939; accord, Legislature v. Reinecke (1972) 6 Cal.3d 595, 601, 99 Cal.Rptr. 481, 492 P.2d 385.) In determining which map should be used for the interim elections, this court must consider (1) what maps are reasonably and practically available, and (2) the pros and cons of each potentially viable map in light of the constitutional scheme and criteria set out in recently amended article XXI of the California Constitution. If, after so analyzing each of the potential maps, the court concludes that a map other than the one currently being implemented by election officials should be used for the upcoming 2012 elections in the event the proposed referendum qualifies for the ballot, this court would direct election officials to employ a “dual track” planning process during the remainder of the signature verification process. Officials would thus be able to proceed with the current district maps if the referendum does not qualify for the ballot, but would be ready to use the alternative voting districts should the proposed referendum qualify for the ballot.
As we explain, in the present case four alternative maps have been proposed for use in the 2012 elections in the event the referendum qualifies for the ballot: the three maps proposed by petitioner and the Commission's certified state Senate district map. After reviewing the pros and cons of each of these proposed alternatives in light of the constitutional scheme and criteria, we conclude, for the reasons discussed below, that the Commission's certified map is clearly the most appropriate map to be used in the 2012 state Senate elections even if the proposed referendum qualifies for the ballot.
Accordingly, after first confirming that we properly may exercise jurisdiction in this matter and that the petition presents issues sufficiently ripe for review, we conclude that if the proposed referendum qualifies for the November 2012 general election ballot and stays the Commission's certified state Senate map, the Commission's state Senate map should be used on an interim basis for the June and November 2012 elections, pending the outcome of the referendum. If the proposed referendum does not qualify for the ballot, the Commission's state Senate map will continue to be used for the 2012 election and future elections until replaced pursuant to article XXI of the state Constitution by new maps drawn by a future newly constituted Commission following the 2020 census.
Article XXI of the California Constitution, as amended by ballot measures approved by the electorate in November 2008 (Prop. 11, the Voters First Act) and November 2010 (Prop. 20), removes the task of redistricting from the Legislature and gives it to the newly created Citizens Redistricting Commission. (Cal. Const., art. XXI, §§ 1 & 2.) The Commission is required to adjust the boundary lines of California's state Senate, state Assembly, congressional, and State Board of Equalization voting districts “[i]n the year following the year in which the national census is taken under the direction of Congress at the beginning of each decade....” ( Id., art. XXI, § 1.)
The membership of the Commission selected to create new districts in light of the 2010 census was finalized in late 2010, and in the first eight months of 2011 the Commission held more than 70 business meetings and 34 public hearings in 32 cities throughout the state. The Commission produced draft statewide maps on which it sought and responded to public comment, and finally, in mid-August 2011, it approved and certified all...
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