In a landslide vote, Proposition 50 passed on November 4th, inciting both jubilant cheers and frustrated groans throughout California. The controversial amendment allows elected state legislators to redraw California’s congressional map, dividing areas with dense Republican voter populations among large Democrat-controlled districts to diminish their ability to elect Republican Representatives. This is expected to flip five Republican-held seats in the House to Democratic control and is intended to counteract the Texas legislature’s similar gerrymandering of their districts, which added five Republicans in August. However, unlike the Texas redistricting, in which only members of their legislature were permitted to vote, California called a special election that allowed all registered California voters to have a say. The proposition only allows the redistricting to occur until 2030, when the non-partisan California Citizens Redistricting Commission will resume control of district drawing. Ultimately, the measure passed, with 63.9% of voters selecting “yes” and 36.1% selecting “no.”
Although Proposition 50 passed, many Californians still view it as undemocratic. Such a Californian is former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who stated, “Texas started it. They did something terribly wrong. And then all of a sudden California says, ‘Well, then we have to do something terribly wrong.’” His words reflect the fear that the redistricting war started by Texas and taken up by California could spiral into a nationwide conflict in which more and more people will lose voting power. Oppositionally, current California Governor Gavin Newsom spoke in favor of the measure, saying people have to “wake up to these new realities,” alluding to how Republicans could maintain control of Congress even amidst falling poll numbers through redistricting. Whether California should fight fire with fire or stay out of the redistricting frenzy is no longer the question; it’s now whether the rest of the United States will join in on the fight.
