That also makes it the key time for residents of the state to tune in and participate.

What is redistricting and how does it work in California?

Every 10 years after the federal government conducts the census, the data is used to redraw the nation’s political boundaries to ensure population is evenly distributed among elected officials.

In California, that’s the job of the Citizens Redistricting Commission, a group of five Democrats, five Republicans and four independents who use public input and technical data to fashion maps for congressional, Assembly, state Senate and Board of Equalization districts.

Census results cost California one seat in Congress after the apportionment process, meaning one incumbent lawmaker will ultimately lose their district or have to run against a colleague. That seat is mostly coming from the Los Angeles area, according to the draft, where population growth over the last decade was slowest.

At a meeting of the commission in early November, commission Chair Sara Sadhwani noted the drafts are tentative. “We might not have it perfectly correct,” she acknowledged.