County of Merced Citizens Redistricting Commission.

Assembly Member Soria's proposal to establish an independent Citizens Redistricting Commission in Merced County would transfer supervisorial district boundary adjustments from the Board of Supervisors to an 11-member commission following each federal census. The commission would join similar bodies already operating in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Luis Obispo, Kern, Fresno, and Sacramento counties.

The legislation outlines specific membership criteria requiring commissioners to be county residents who have maintained consistent party registration for five years and voted in recent elections. Members must not have held political office, worked for elected officials, served as lobbyists, or been political party officers within the previous decade. The selection process combines random drawing of five initial members - one from each existing supervisorial district - who then appoint six additional members to ensure proportional party representation and demographic diversity.

The commission would conduct at least five public hearings across all districts before drafting maps and two additional hearings afterward. The bill requires live language translation when requested by language minority communities comprising 3% or more of voting-age residents. All commission records and data would be public, with draft maps posted online for comment. The commission must adopt final district boundaries by the statutory deadline, with plans subject to voter referendum. Members would be barred from holding elective office for five years and appointive positions for three years after serving.