Proposition 50: What you need to know for the Special Election

• Proposition 50 calls for the redrawing of California’s congressional district map to increase the chance of Democrats winning five new seats in the House of Representatives. The proposition would also suspend the state’s independent redistricting commission
• A “Yes” vote supports the redrawing of the district map and suspending the California Citizens Redistricting Commission
• A “No” vote would lead to the continued usage of the current congressional district map until the California Citizens Redistricting Commission redraws the map after the 2030 U.S. Census

This November, California voters will be deciding whether to temporarily transfer the power to redraw congressional district lines from the California Citizens Redistricting Commission to the state legislature. 

What is Proposition 50?

According to Stephanie Burkhalter, a political science professor at Cal Poly Humboldt, Proposition 50 was created as a direct response to Republican led redistricting in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina. 

“It’s kind of a domino effect, and we could see that coming,” Burkhalter said. “So then California looked around and said, where can we redraw so that we can possibly counteract what’s happening.”

Buekhalter explained that redistricting, traditionally, was the process of redrawing congressional district boundaries every decade after a national census. The process was created to ensure equal representation in the House according to population changes. Toward the end of the 20th century, this would change. 

 “In 1995, Texas started to do what we call mid-census redistricting,” Burkhalter said . “They were redrawing legislative district lines between censuses. So they kind of broke a norm, and once that norm was broken, other states started to do it.”

This new practice coincided with partisan gerrymandering, which is when a political party in power designs district boundaries to increase the likelihood of their candidate’s victory. This process is not considered unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. 

“So partisan gerrymandering exists to maximize the power of a particular political party. It’s constitutional because the Supreme Court won’t stop it,” Burkhalter said. “The U.S. Supreme Court has said the Constitution gives the power of elections to states. States can decide how they want to draw their lines.”

California voters removed the ability for state lawmakers to gerrymander by creating the California Citizens Redistricting Commission by passing Proposition 11 (2008) and Proposition 20 (2010). The commission consists of 10 members: four Democrats, four Republicans, and two unaffiliated voters. 

Proposition 50 would suspend the commission until after the 2030 U.S. Census, meaning the state legislature would have the power to redraw congressional district lines until 2031. Proposition 50 would not affect the district lines for the California State Assembly and State Senate.

Burkhalter noted that Proposition 50 would not add any new congressional districts; instead, it would redraw existing ones to increase the chances of victory for Democratic candidates. Either by strength leads or by changing district demographics in the hope that it will lead to Democrats replacing current Republican representatives. 

“They [Democrats] still have to win the elections, but based on voter distribution, the estimate is they [districts] would be won by Democrats,” Burkhalter said.

The Republican Opinion

Humboldt County Republican Chairwoman Susan Moxon voiced concern that Proposition 50 would impact the ability of California to continue to hold fair elections. 

“The free and fair election happened in California with the independent redistricting, and I think that’s what we need to focus on,” Moxon said. “We don’t want one party or the other to draw the district lines in California because it skews the elections, and it doesn’t make it a fair election.”

Moxon also criticized the proposition’s reference to Texas and noting how other states could undo the proposition through their own redistricting. 

“To do something like mention Texas in the proposition, I think, was very unfair, and it sounds a little bit childish to me,” Moxon said. 

With the temporary nature of Proposition 50, Moxon was concerned that it may be here to stay.

“I’ve also heard that this proposition is temporary, but it seems temporary political decisions carry on forever. So I could imagine that we will be having another election that will cost the taxpayers in California another $300 million,” Moxon said.

The Democrat Opinion

A representative from the Humboldt Democrats provided written information stating that the proposition is meant to “ level the playing field 2026” when the national Midterm election will take place. 

The representative also noted the temporary nature of Proposition 50 with a direct plan to return redistricting authority to the California Citizens Redistricting Commission. “Prop 50 directs the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission to resume enacting congressional district maps in 2031, after the 2030 census,” the representative wrote. “That is the normal time to redraw districts.”

The key point of support behind Proposition 50 is the need to respond to the current coordinated partisan gerrymandering that is being led by President Donald J. Trump in the Republican Party. “The redistricting in Texas was a top down,” the representative wrote. “It was ordered by Trump and enacted by the governor and legislature.” 

The representative emphasized that Proposition 50 would protect Democratic representation and allow the party to stand up to the president in the House of Representatives. “We can’t let Texas cancel out our votes in the House of Representatives,” the representative wrote. “A Democratic majority in the House will enable us to seriously limit Trump’s power after the mid-terms.”

Further Information

If you are interested in seeing how Prop. 50 would affect your district’s boundaries; you can visit this article by Cal Matters. Simply enter your address, and you can see if your district will be changed by Proposition 50.

For further information on vote centers, ballot drop box locations, and times and dates to vote, visit https://humboldtgov.org/2589/Vote-Centers. The final day to vote is Nov. 4, 2025.