Schwarzenegger is joined by groups such as California Common Cause and the AARP in his quest for redistricting reform. Right now, the home districts for our congressional and state representatives are drawn up by the state legislators themselves. “This system has created an astonishing lack of competition in our elections,” said the governor in a radio address he gave earlier this year. “In effect, instead of voters choosing their elected officials, the politicians are actually choosing their voters.”

In the past three election cycles, only four out of 459 seats up for grabs in California changed party hands. It’s expected that lawmakers in both parties will fight the initiative – Democrats are likely to call the effort a Republican power grab, and Republican lawmakers are said to want tougher reforms. Schwarzenegger says he plans to tour the length of California and collect signatures to qualify the initiative himself, if that’s what’s needed to get the bill on the ballot. Democratic lawmakers are still hoping to push redistricting reform through the legislature.