Californians face crucial choice over redistrictingpublished at 21:53 GMT
Regan Morris
Reporting from Los Angeles
“Fight back against Trump – Vote Yes” or “Two wrongs don’t make a right – Vote No.”
Those are the messages Californians have been bombarded with for months as they head to the polls to answer just one question – should the state redraw their congressional district maps “in response to Texas’s partisan redistricting.” A yes vote means California could counter what Texas has done without asking its voters – redraw its maps to benefit one party over another.
Gov Gavin Newsom has been urging Californians to vote yes – along with former President Obama who featured in an ad and several Instagram posts imploring voters to get out to the polls and vote “yes”.
“California the whole nation is counting on you,” President Obama says in an ad, saying Democracy is on the ballot and that Republicans want to “steal” seats in Congress. “Prop 50 puts our elections back on a level playing field, preserves independent redistricting over the long term, and lets the people decide.”
California’s Republicans say the Golden state should preserve the “gold standard” they created “for fair elections: independent, citizen-led redistricting that ensures voters pick their representatives, not the other way around.”
That “gold standard” was championed by the state’s most influential living Republican – former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is known for championing the independent redistricting commission.
“It’s against Democracy,” former Gov Schwarzenegger told students at USC. “They want to dismantle this independent commission, they want to get rid of it under the auspices “we have to fight Trump”.”
He told the students that Prop 50 is “getting rid of the democratic principles of California and urged a no vote to stop California from “going backwards.”
But that appearance was nearly two months ago and aside from an interview on CNN calling Prop 50 “cheating,” the Schwarzenegger has been largely absent from the No on Prop 50 campaigns, which would dismantle one of his greatest political achievements.
If Prop 50 passes, it will be temporary, and the independent Citizens Redistricting Commission would resume enacting congressional maps in 2031.
