1. California’s state constitution, in Article XXI, Section 2, Subsection d.3, stipulates that "Districts shall be geographically contiguous."

2. This means that a district cannot include areas that are not connected to the rest of the district. Actual islands are to be considered connected to the nearest land mass.

3. “Connected” in this sense refers to every census block in a district bordering at least one other census block in the same district. It does not refer to use of any means of transportation – e.g., two census blocks are considered to border each other even if there is no direct means of moving from one to the other.

4. Some census blocks have little or no population. The absence of population does not mean that the blocks are not contiguous.

5. Contiguity also does not refer in any way to the shape of a district. As long as every census block in the district borders at least one other census block in the district, it is contiguous.

Help us draw the best possible districts by participating in our Community of Interest input meetings (see the schedule at WeDrawTheLinesCA.org/meetings) or by sharing your Community of Interest input through our online tool at DrawMyCACommunity.org.