By Marcy Axness, TME

All residents are subject to the same taxation in Kern County, but are all residents equally represented by the county’s governing body, the Kern County Board of Supervisors? Most readers remember the mantra learned in history class about the American Revolution: “No taxation without representation.”

Since the colonists’ revolt over the British tax on their tea, lack of representation has been an ongoing American concern.

Our 10-year census provides the data to redistrict fairly each decade. Today, however, the art of manipulating district lines to dilute the voting power of one party or interest group while concentrating power in the hands of another group—called “gerrymandering”—dominates politics. In 2018, a federal judge ruled that Kern County engaged in racial gerrymandering in its 2011 redistricting process, to dilute…(please see below to view full stories and photographs)

Photo captions:

The most current draft of the Equity Coalition Map puts the Mountain Communities in District 1, to align rural, high desert and mountain community interests.

These diagrams illustrate three ways to divide 50 people into five districts, each with a different resulting voter majority outcome. 1) is ‘perfect representation’; 2) is ‘compact’ (a district requirement), but not fairly divided; and 3) is neither compact nor fair. Go to www.MountainEnterprise.com Tuesday, Oct. 26 at 3 p.m. for a hotlink to see the experts. Then on Monday, Nov. 1, 6:30 p.m. Our Fair Share Town Hall, Frazier Mtn. Park, to ask all your questions.

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This is part of the October 22, 2021 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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