Community members discuss the details and impact of the special election
By GRACIELA TIU — features@theaggie.org
California voters have begun receiving mail-in ballots for Proposition 50, part of the statewide special election on Tuesday, Nov. 4. As the sole ballot measure in the irregularly scheduled election, Proposition 50 would authorize the early redrawing of California’s congressional district maps.
The last day to register to vote in this special election passed on Oct. 20, but there are still options available for those who missed this deadline.
“Eligible citizens who missed the October 20 deadline to register to vote may complete the ‘Same Day’ voter registration process through Election Day on November 4, 2025, at their local county elections office or any in-person voting location within their county,” the California Secretary of State website reads.
Every registered voter in California should have received a vote-by-mail ballot, which can be returned by mail, at a drop-off location or at the county’s election office on or before election day. Voters can also obtain a polling place ballot if choosing not to vote by mail.
Voting Assistance Centers in Davis available for voters — with notable locations including the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) pop-up — will all be open by Nov. 1. Ballot Drop Boxes are also available until 8 p.m. on Nov. 4, with an on-campus box behind Hunt Hall. For more information, visit the Aggies Vote page on the Student Affairs website.
Supported by California Governor Gavin Newsom, the proposed measure would lead to new congressional districts that aim to temporarily give California five extra Democratic seats in the House of Representatives — a direct response to the Republican partisan gerrymandering in Texas and other states. The ballot measure marks the Democratic party’s pushback against the Republican party, with both attempting to gain more seats by the 2026 midterm elections.
Typically, each state will redraw its district maps every 10 years, after the United States Census occurs, with one representative allocated to each district. However, under pressure from President Donald Trump, the Texas Legislature recently passed a bill allowing for early redistricting that would favor the Republican party. In response, Newsom put forward Proposition 50, known as “The Election Rigging Response Act,” to counteract the ongoing actions in Texas.
The “Yes on 50” committee website describes how the measure “levels the playing field,” “gives voters the power,” “is fair and proportional” and “is temporary.” The measure differs from that of Texas in that it gives voters the choice to allow for the redistricting and would only temporarily change the process, as it would restore California’s independent redistricting process by 2031.
“From my perspective, it mainly reflects California’s frustration with the Republican party and fights to keep government overreach in check,” Claudia Brion, a second-year political science major, said.
The constitutionally mandated, decennial redistricting process remains in place to ensure that districts consistently adjust to reflect population changes. Each voter in the U.S. lives within a district, with one member of the House of Representatives allocated to the specific drawn areas. Through the redistricting process, every state draws the “lines” of their districts, with each having roughly equal numbers of constituents. The process varies by state, but most have either state legislatures, independent commissions or hybrid models establishing the boundaries.
Gerrymandering, defined by Merriam-Webster as “the practice of dividing or arranging a territorial unit into election districts in a way that gives one political party an unfair advantage in elections,” challenges the ideals that the redistricting process upholds. Both partisan gerrymandering and racial gerrymandering have occurred throughout the country’s history, with partisan gerrymandering unequally benefiting or hurting one political party and racial gerrymandering diluting the voting power of marginalized or minority groups.
The Supreme Court has ruled racial gerrymandering as unconstitutional under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 on multiple occasions, though partisan gerrymandering still remains legal, as the Supreme Court ruled the practice nonjusticiable in 2019.
Despite the distinctions between racial and partisan gerrymandering, critics argue that partisan gerrymandering can still disproportionately impact marginalized groups.
“Racial gerrymandering can look a lot like partisan gerrymandering in places segregated by race where communities of color have distinct political preferences,” Michael Waldman, the president and chief executive officer of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, said in an analysis.
The two most commonly used gerrymandering strategies can be summated into the terms “cracking” and “packing.” Michael Li, senior counsel in the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, described what each form of gerrymandering looks like in an article.
“Cracking splits groups of disfavored voters among multiple districts,” Li said. “With their electoral strength divided, cracked groups struggle to elect their preferred candidates in any of the districts because they are too small a share of the electorate to be effective. Packing is the opposite of cracking. With packing, map drawers cram members of disfavored groups or parties into as few districts as possible. The packed groups are able to elect their preferred candidates by overwhelming margins, but their voting strength is weakened everywhere else.”
With these strategies in mind, both parties in multiple states find themselves in a redistricting race, with each side aiming to create more party-favorable districts and subsequently gain more House seats before the 2026 midterms. Historically, the president’s party almost always loses House seats in the midterm elections, with political scientists offering various explanations for the pattern. However, if Texas and other Republican-led states gain more seats through their moves to partisan gerrymander halfway through the decade, and Democrat-led states don’t make a move to counteract, this trend may shift.
“If Prop. 50 fails and red state maps go to effect without pushback, we might risk a political environment where the Executive Branch tightens its hold on every level of government, and the guard rails — the checks and balances that are supposed to protect representation and democratic accountability — grow even weaker,” a UC Davis alum with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science — Public Service who works in California politics and wishes to remain anonymous, said. “I think that there’s still a lot on the line. Right now, the federal government can’t be really trusted to represent the constituents within states, so motivating governors, state leaders and those that control Congress [is] going to be the best defense that we have at protecting democracy.”
The alum further emphasized the significance of this special election in comparison to general and primary elections.
“It’s very rare that you consider redrawing congressional maps before the time is up,” the alum said. “There are unique aspects — a combination of federal courts stepping back from addressing partisan gerrymandering and also the escalating pressures from outside actors trying to shape control of Congress, which isn’t typical of undrawn congressional maps. And politicians with national platforms are uplifting it, even in this type of special election.”
The political atmosphere under the Trump administration has left many UC Davis students feeling especially interested in topics like this special election.
“I first heard about the special election a few months ago via an ad while studying on YouTube,” Presley Backus, a third-year animal science major, said. “The political advertisement stated that, ‘To protect American values, Vote No on Prop. 50.’ Naturally, this sparked interest because, one, I, like many others, do not like to be told what to do, especially when there was little to no information within the advertisement about what Prop. 50 was. And two, the term ‘American values,’ at least in a political context, raised red flags for me. In general, I find that the Internet is a breeding ground for misinformation, especially when the target audience is young adults.”
Backus explained how her experience in the state has influenced her decision to vote in this upcoming election.
“When deciding whether to vote, a large factor that comes into play is my bicoastal residency,” Backus said. “At times, I can feel a bit lost when deciding whether I should have a voice in a state that I do not plan to call home following my undergraduate education. […] The current policies of the Trump administration have, to put it conservatively, been unsavory in their representation of what I define as ‘American values.’ To witness the unconstitutionality coupled with the lack of decorum displayed by the actions of the Trump administration and stand idly by is immoral. To me, utilizing my right to vote is essential. I come from a family of Black ex-marines, and I know this is not the America they served to uphold.”
The special election brings a sense of political momentum to Newsom and the Democratic party, with some people noting how their strategy against the Trump administration has evolved.
“I think that in Sacramento, they’re really trying to seize this political moment,” the alum said. “You can see it in Governor Newsom’s social media and all of these different things. It took a while for them to warm up to feeling comfortable to speak out so explicitly about what’s happening at a federal level, but I think now it’s very clear. A lot of voters are feeling the repercussions of what’s happening at the federal level — they want to take action and allow Congress to be more balanced.”
Written by: Graciela Tiu — features@theaggie.org
