The deadline for Californians to apply for a first-of-its-kind citizens commission to draw districts for legislative elections ended Tuesday night with the field of applicants tilting heavily toward white men.
A breakdown of applicants by race shows vastly disproportionate numbers in comparison to the state's overall population but less of a gap when they are measured only against estimates of registered voters.
Of the nearly 31,000 applications received by candidates for the redistricting commission, whites submitted 70 percent, far higher than their 41 percent share of California's population.
The 14-member citizens commission will be charged with drawing the state's 80
Assembly, 40 Senate and four Board of Equalization districts. Congressional districts, by contrast, will continue to be drawn by the Legislature.
The nascent redistricting commission, stemming from passage of Proposition 11 two years ago, will consist of five Democrats, five Republicans and four members from neither party.
Latinos are significantly underrepresented in the final unofficial tally of applicants, representing about 11.5 percent of the candidates,much lower than their 37 percent share of California's population.
African Americans applied in a proportion slightly higher than their share of the population, 8.3 percent vs 6 percent. Asians applied in a lower proportion than in the population, 5.1 percent vs. 12 percent. Other races totaled 4.6 percent of applications.
Male applicants outnumbered females by a margin of more than two to one - 67.6 percent vs. 32.4 percent.
Democrats slightly outnumbered Republicans among commission applicants, 41.4 percent to 38.4 percent, but the latter exceeded its proportion of registered voters statewide, which is 30.7 percent.
California does not maintain statistics on registered voters by race, but a Field Poll last year concluded that 65 percent of registered voters are white, 21 percent are Latino, 5.8 percent are African American, and 8.2 percent are Asian or other races.
Margarita Fernandez, spokeswoman for state Auditor Elaine Howle, whose office is overseeing the commission's selection process, said today that the auditor is confident that a diverse panel can be selected from a field as large as 31,000 applicants.
By Oct. 1, the auditor's office must whittle the list of applicants to 60 people -- 20 of them Democrats, 20 Republicans, and 20 from neither party.
"It's an awesome pool," Fernandez said. "We're confident that we can find 60 of the most qualified that are diverse, like California."
From the auditor's list of 60 qualified candidates, the four Democratic and Republican leaders of the Legislature can strike two names from each of three pools representing the two major parties and other applicants.
Eight members of the commission then will be drawn by random - three Democrats, three Republicans and two other applicants. The panel will choose its final six members after considering racial, ethnic, gender and geographic diversity.
Of the nearly 31,000 applications received, about 4,700 candidates have been tentatively disqualified for failing to meet conflict-of-interest or other basic standards, such as voting in at least two of the past three statewide general elections.
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