Emma Lee, image sources: Wikimedia Commons, ca.gov, texas.gov

Gov. Gavin Newson’s signing of Proposition 50 aims to negate the political advantage gained through Texas Gov. George Abbott’s redistricting initiatives. Current indicators point towards the plan passing in the special election on Nov. 4.

California voters will decide on Proposition 50, California’s state plan to redraw congressional election maps, on Nov. 4.

This comes after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the proposition on Aug. 21. Supporters of Prop. 50 have raised over $126 million compared to the $75 million collected by opposition through Sept. 28. Raising money usually funds advertising, outreach and campaigns to persuade voters, and the side with more resources often has a stronger ability to shape public opinion.

Redistricting is the redrawing of state district lines that determine how our House of Representatives legislators are elected, typically done after the Census results every 10 years to keep district populations balanced for fair representation. Newsom’s proposal will redefine districts in the middle of the typical decade-long period and is a direct response to Texas’s redistricting efforts to add five Republican seats.

“The political state of our country is becoming more polarized because [Newsom’s] actions felt like a response to Governor Abbott of Texas and, in general, the more right wing movements throughout our country,” sophomore Elaine Huang said. “Newsom has this reputation in California where he is very anti-Trump, but at the same time, he still has some very conservative values, so it was an interesting moment for Californians.”

In California, a citizen-led group separate from politicians called an independent citizen commission holds public meetings to gather opinions before drafting and voting on a new map. Prop. 50 represents a distinct departure from the established process, which was designed to remove partisan influence from redistricting decisions.

“In the state of California, you have to apply to be on the redistricting committee, and it’s a year-long process,” AP Government and Civics teacher Carol Green said. “They’re looking for political diversity, so we can only have so many registered Republicans and so many registered Democrats, and the rest have to be registered either independent or third party.”

Individual states have the power to determine their legislative processes for redistricting. Thus, some legislators modify redistricting for their own goals, as demonstrated in Newsom and Abbott’s leveraging of districts to gain House seats. The term gerrymandering describes the improper usage of the process to benefit a certain class or political party.

“There is a federal check, but that check doesn’t deal with political gerrymandering,” Green said. “The Constitution leaves elections to the states, so for the most part, gerrymandering is completely legal and mostly depends on what kinds of rules are set up per state. If the people of the state want to change that, they’ve got to change who their elected officials are.”

Newsom’s plan will require a special election in November, where California voters will decide whether to approve the new maps. If passed, the redistricting would take effect for the 2026 midterm elections, prompting states to rush the process to potentially shift the balance of power in Congress.

Ballot measure contribution totals as of Sept. 28 and a poll by Emerson Polling on Sept. 19 indicate California citizens are in favor of passing Prop. 50. Senior Timothy Deng, president of Civic Discourse Club, expressed concerns about how continuing the conflict may affect the entire country. 

“The broader ethical question we have to consider is really whether this tactic is one, legitimate and two, if it’s going to be effective,” Timothy said. “It’s really a fighting fire with fire situation, and if democracy is under threat in other states, are we going to attempt to fight that by putting democracy under threat in our own state? I worry that adopting these undemocratic tactics is only going to further degrade American political culture.”