Residents statewide are being sought to apply for the Citizens Redistricting Commission, a 14-member panel that will redraw boundaries for the state Senate, Assembly and Board of Equalization districts in time for the 2012 elections.

The commission was created by Proposition 11, the Voters First Act on the November 2008 state ballot that was narrowly approved by voters. It took the power to redraw district lines away from the state Legislature in order to create more contested races and to reduce the power of incumbents.

The ballot measure established specific criteria for commission members. Five must be Democrats, five must be Republicans and the remaining four must be neither Democrats or Republicans, state Auditor Elaine Howle said in a phone interview last week.

“This is an exciting time in our state’s history,” Howle said. “This is the first commission of its kind in the United States, and we’re ready to take this next step. We’ve already established regulations and laid the foundation for creating the 14-member commission.”

Applicants must be registered voters who have been consistently registered for at least five consecutive years and have voted in two of the last three general elections, Howle said. In addition, applicants or close relatives cannot have been a candidate for state or federal office for the last 10 years, or been a paid lobbyists or contributed more than $2,000 to a political candidate in the last 10 years.

“We are hoping we can get a lot of applicants from throughout the state,” Howle said.

She said the ballot measure requires the 14-member panel to reflect the diversity of the state as far as ethnic origins, urban and rural areas and all parts of the state.

Howle’s office has created a Web site, www.wedrawthelines.ca.gov, where interested residents can review the application process online. Preliminary applications must be submitted by Feb. 12.

Initial applicants will be reviewed and notified if they qualify by Feb.15. Those who qualify will be asked to fill out a supplemental application form by April 2.

An applicant review panel made up of three certified public accountants who work for the auditor’s office and have at least 10 years of independent auditing experience will then review the applicants and select the 120 most qualified applicants by next July 19.

Howle said the 120 will be broken down by 40 Democrats, 40 Republicans and 40 people without a Democratic or Republican affiliation. The 120 candidates will be interviewed by the three-member panel between July 20 and Sept. 13.

The three-member panel will then whittle the panel down to 60 by the end of September, again balanced with 20 Democrats, 20 Republicans and 20 from other parties.

From there, the leaders of the state Legislature get involved in the selection process. The Democratic and Republican leaders of the state Senate and Assembly are allowed to remove up to 24 people from the 60-member list, again making sure the final 36 candidates are equally represented among Democrats, Republicans and others.

Howle will be given the final list of 36 by Nov. 15. She will have five days to randomly select eight people to the Citizens Redistricting Commission. Those eight will then select the final six members of the panel.

The entire 14-member commission must be selected by Dec. 31 of next year. The panel has until Sept. 15, 2011 to draw new lines for the 40 state Senate, 80 Assembly and the four Board of Equalization districts.

The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials encouraged Latinos to seek seats on the commission.

“The Citizens Redistricting Commission will develop maps that will be required to comply with federal law to ensure that Latino voters have a fair opportunity to elect the candidates of their choice during state elections,” said Arturo Vargas, executive director of the group.

“It is critical that Latinos have a voice on the commission that will determine the contours of California’s representative democracy for the next 10 years,” he said.