{"id":26828,"date":"2025-10-28T10:41:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T10:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/26828\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T10:41:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T10:41:07","slug":"california-voters-already-casting-ballots-on-prop-50-to-redraw-congressional-maps-annenberg-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/26828\/","title":{"rendered":"California voters already casting ballots on Prop. 50 to redraw congressional maps \u2013 Annenberg Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

As voting is underway for a special election on Proposition 50 \u2014 a measure aimed at reshaping California\u2019s congressional boundaries \u2014 the Justice Department (DOJ) announced<\/a> in a press release Friday that it will send monitors to some polling sites, igniting a debate about whether they\u2019ll be there to safeguard the election or intimidate voters.<\/p>\n

Prop. 50<\/a> would require the temporary, legislatively drawn map to be used for any federal congressional elections that begin in 2026 and end in 2030. It would also allow California\u2019s independent Citizens Redistricting Commission to draw new maps after the 2030 U.S. Census.<\/p>\n

Initiated by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the measure serves as a response to Texas\u2019s partisan redistricting that added five GOP seats, according to California\u2019s voter guide<\/a>. Newsom hopes that this special election ballot would increase the odds of Democrats also gaining five seats in the House of Representatives, according to CalMatters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s California\u2019s effort to engage in national conversation as a number of conservative states have redistricted themselves in response to pressures from the White House,\u201d said Gordon Stables, the director of the school of journalism at USC Annenberg. \u201cGiven its size\u2026If California passes Prop. 50, it may wind up offsetting several other states in terms of their movement from states who are more purple to more Republican seats.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahead of the special election, California\u2019s GOP raised concern over what it considered previous election irregularity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn recent elections, we have received reports of irregularities in these counties that we fear will undermine either the willingness of voters to participate in the election or their confidence in the announced results of the election,\u201d wrote GOP Chairwoman Corrin Rankin in a letter sent to the DOJ last Monday, obtained by the AP.<\/p>\n

In their Friday announcement, the DOJ<\/a> outlined that they will be sending election monitors to five polling sites in southern and central California counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Kern, Riverside and Fresno.<\/p>\n

\u201cTransparent election processes and election monitoring are critical tools for safeguarding our elections and ensuring public trust in the integrity of our elections,\u201d said Harmeet K. Dhillon, the assistant attorney general of the Civil Rights Division in the press release. <\/p>\n

Newsom, who is concerned about election monitors, also warned that the Trump administration could send immigration agents to polling places in an attempt to intimidate voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to likely see members of our military in and around polling booths and voting places all across this country,\u201d said Newsom during a virtual event to promote Proposition 50<\/a>. \u201cI would say the same about ICE and Border Patrol, and I say that soberly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newsom offered no evidence that the Department of Homeland Security will station ICE agents at polling sites, but he did mention the Los Angeles launch event for Prop. 50 where immigration agents blocked supporters from entering the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernor Newsom makes a fair concern. Given that ICE operations seem to be gravitating towards a majority of large public events, I do think that there\u2019s a real concern,\u201d said Stables. \u201dI imagine that\u2019s one of the reasons why California is considering a variety of ways for citizens to exercise their vote. Mail balloting is certainly one way to ensure that every California citizen has the ability to use their ballot without that concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to CalMatters<\/a>, a spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement wrote in a statement that the agency \u201cis not planning operations targeting polling locations,\u201d though agents will make arrests if \u201ca dangerous criminal alien\u201d is pursued near a voting site.<\/p>\n

Still, some voters said that the presence of law enforcement close to polling sites could be intimidating. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as you see law enforcement, you see these authority figures, you see them as a point of safety,\u201d said Steven Marikta, a southern California project engineer. \u201cSometimes when you see these masked faces, you see these people you don\u2019t quite recognize. How are you supposed to look at them as a beacon of hope, instead you just look at them as one more thing to be afraid of \u2026 it\u2019s just one more thing to try to bully people.\u201d<\/p>\n

It remains unclear whether federal monitors will be stationed during early in-person voting or just on November 4. According to LAist<\/a>, the Justice Department has not said whether monitors will be onsite at polling places as well as county election offices. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re here to help us. They\u2019re here to make sure our votes are counted and that none of this stuff is messed with or dumped in trash bins. Their votes count and the vote is counted,\u201d said poll worker Stephen Foster. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what I\u2019m so happy with \u2026 here you can register, vote that day, and your vote will be counted.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, in addition to Newson, Stables also raises concerns about the use of monitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cElection monitors are a really touchy subject, because in theory, we should all be supportive of monitoring to make sure that elections are always under the best practices,\u201d Stables said. \u201cBut I think the concern is in the details of: are election monitors people who are election experts that are sent to ensure best practices, or are election monitors, in this case, being designed to intimidate or harass voters at the polls.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the Los Angeles County voting center in the Millennium Biltmore Towers, early voting<\/a> is already underway.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe in fairness, and I kind of disagree with what\u2019s happening in Texas,\u201d Marikta said. \u201cI feel like this is the appropriate response to balance the field a little bit, so I kind of wanted to come and let my voice be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a registered Republican, Marikta said he voted yes on Prop. 50. \u201cI believe in a fair election. I feel like what\u2019s happening right now is just unfair \u2026 it feels like you\u2019re trying to steal seats that are unearned.\u201d <\/p>\n

A new Emerson College Polling<\/a> survey of California voters finds 57% of likely voters support Proposition 50, while 37% oppose the proposition. Including undecided voters, support for the measure increases to 60%.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be scared. Come on out \u2013 you know, you have rights,\u201d said voter Keith Dasalla. \u201cCome out and vote. Don\u2019t let these people intimidate you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As voting is underway for a special election on Proposition 50 \u2014 a measure aimed at reshaping California\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7166,7,9,8,6590,16629,20394,1362,6359,1710],"class_list":["post-26828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-ballots","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-california-voters","tag-congressional-maps","tag-legislative-map","tag-prop-50","tag-special-election","tag-voting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}