Giving the vote back to Merced and Stanislaus Counties

For years, Merced and Stanislaus counties have been separated between voting districts by politicians, taking away any chance of electing state and national candidates who truly represent this district.

Now, finally after taking away the power to draw their own districts from the politicians, our counties may have a real choice in electing candidates who represent our views.

It is hoped that the commission set up to form new districts will not be splitting Merced and Stanislaus counties. No two counties in the state have more in common.

Both are agrarian based and have more conservative values as compared with the rest of the state.

When the last districts were formed, taking in downtown Stockton as part of the district, and removing half of Stanislaus county, it was like driving a spike in the heart of our district.

Clearly the interests of downtown Stockton and Merced and Stanislaus counties were different.

The reason for such a split was obvious.

It gave one party an overwhelming majority at the voting booth. Districts like ours and many others in the state, never changed candidates and never changed parties.

We had all but lost our vote.

Several times the electorate had asked for a change in the method of deciding on districts, but the politicians who controlled the districts would not hear of it. Why should they allow districts which were locked into one party or another change?
They didn’t have to work to get reelected.

For example, during the last election when Republicans took control of the House, only one California Congressional seat was changed.

We have no problem with diversity within districts and we feel that this will bring to office politicians who are more responsive to their voters, the grass roots on which this country is based.

We also feel that politicians will see the need for breaking the stalemate in the state Legislature and Congress. It is time for politicians to find solutions to the countries problems and cut out the bickering.

The old system of gerrymandering, or going outside the area to find voting blocks, should have been outlawed years ago. It clearly ran against all the principles of democracy.

The new system remains to be reviewed. At the onset is supposed to have a balance of Republican and Democrat commissioners and the remainder are independents. There will be five Republicans, five Democrats and four independent or minor-party commissioners.

Four of the commissioners are from Los Angeles County, and one apiece from San Francisco, Yolo, San Diego, Alameda, Santa Cruz, Orange, Santa Clara, Ventura, Riverside and San Joaquin counties.

The one representative from San Joaquin Valley is Michelle R. DiGuilio-Matz of Stockton and she was almost bumped after some argued that a Berkeley residents with more specialized knowledge should be on the panel.

The commission will draw new boundaries in time for the 2012 elections, using information from the 2010 census, which could mean that the rural areas of the state actually gain representation. California on the whole, will have the same representation. 

We hope that those new boundaries will allow Merced and Stanislaus counties to remain in one voting district.

It just makes good sense.