Vote No on Proposition 50

A “no” is a vote for democracy when no one seems willing to defend it.

Credit: Gabe Khuly

On August 21, 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the so-called “Election Rigging Response Act.” The amendment gives California voters the opportunity to vote on Proposition 50 and decide whether to repeal the maps that were created by California’s independent redistricting committee, instituting new, partisan maps gerrymandered to eliminate five Republican seats. This was passed in response to Texas redistricting its maps to give Republicans five more seats in that state at the request of President Trump.

California’s independent redistricting committee was established by Prop 11 in 2008. It was initially limited to drawing maps for state legislative districts, but, in 2010, its authority expanded to include congressional maps. The commission consists of 14 members: five Democrats, five Republicans, and four Independents, each thoroughly vetted. The map-drawing process takes place over the course of a year. During this time, the commission holds public meetings, allowing locals to offer their input. This ensures that the maps that are drawn sort people into communities which share common characteristics and interests. In contrast to the open, transparent, and lengthy process of the independent commission, the maps put forth by Prop 50 were hastily drawn behind closed doors by state legislators. While consultation with average citizens is central to the independent commission’s process, none of that was present with the creation of Prop 50’s maps. 

Prop 50 stands as a symbol of all that currently ails the Democratic Party. For the last 10 years, Democrats have decried Donald Trump as a threat to democracy, even calling him a fascist. It’s ironic that after a decade of stressing the importance of maintaining our democracy against those that would destroy it, Democrats have decided to turn their back on democratic principles as well. And while they may try to defend themselves against the charge of hypocrisy by claiming that this is a temporary move that will expire at the next census, the truth is: one cannot protect democracy in a way that blatantly undermines it. Authoritarians have long used “temporary” measures to gradually expand their power while dissolving constraints. If Democrats fail to regain the White House in 2028, a similar ballot proposition will be put forth, no doubt.

To be clear, partisan gerrymandering—no matter where or by whom it is done—is abhorrent, undemocratic, and flies in the face of the principles of self-government. However, repulsive actions by one state do not give license to another to commit the same evils in the other direction. Most of us were told growing up that “two wrongs don’t make a right.” Prop 50 would not only silence the voices of a great many people in this state; it would incite other states to horribly gerrymander their maps. The problem with fighting fire with fire is that you burn the house down.

The moment you begin to erode democracy, the die is cast. Rather than respond to Texas by stooping to their level, Democrats should show that they are different from Republicans. When they instead use the same tricks, Democrats validate the views of voters who see the parties as equally repugnant. Americans chose to bring back Trump because they didn’t like the direction the country was heading under Joe Biden. If Democrats want to defeat Republicans, they should make changes to their policies and messaging that address the dissatisfaction so many voters felt in 2024. 

Now, Proponents of Prop 50 claim that it is democratic, because Californians are voting on it. But it is not democratic to strip away the rights of others. The people of Shasta County, for instance, should not be lumped into the same district as those from Marin County—and separated from their neighbors in Tehama County—simply because the people of Sacramento want to stack and pack them into districts that share no common interests or needs. Alexis de Tocqueville warned of the “tyranny of the majority,” whereby a majority of the populace uses its electoral potency to suppress the voices of the minority. Such tyranny will be unleashed if Prop 50 passes.

Gerrymandering dilutes democracy. It is a reversal of the democratic proposition: rather than allowing the voters to choose their representatives, gerrymandering allows the representatives to choose their voters. It cements the entrenched political order and stifles true opposition. In extreme cases, gerrymandered maps can lead to a party winning a majority of seats with a minority of votes. By minimizing the degree to which an individual’s vote impacts the electoral results, gerrymandering neuters democracy.

A California Republican has just as much right to be heard and to have a say in his government as any California Democrat. Yes, there are more Democrats than Republicans in this state. But Republican voters are Californians just the same. Newsom and the state legislators were elected by the people of California; their responsibility is to the people of California, not to the Democratic Party. 

In Crisis of the House Divided, Professor Harry Jaffa described Abraham Lincoln’s objection to Stephen Douglas’ position on slavery. Douglas believed in “popular sovereignty,” the notion that individual states could decide whether or not they would allow slavery. Jaffa, articulating Lincoln’s view, wrote:

To justify despotism was of necessity to condemn self-government, and to justify self-government was of necessity to condemn despotism. A popular sovereignty which could, even in theory, issue in the despotic rule of one man by another was a living lie…and to embalm such a lie in the heart of a great act of national legislation…would be a calamity for human freedom.

To say that fair representation can be taken away by a ballot measure is to say that democracy itself can be taken away by a ballot measure. I would hope that no Democrat—indeed, no American—would ever want to follow that logic to its natural end. In our day, as in Lincoln’s, it is important to maintain that the “will of the people” cannot be invoked to justify the denial of rights.

Finally, it is quite ironic that a party that proclaims “No Kings” would aim to consolidate power in a way that is not representative of their constituents. To that, I say that “No Kings” should include Gavin Newsom. America is unique in the strength of her democratic institutions; we have known no other form of government as long as we have been a nation. Times of crisis have historically proven to be ripe ground for would-be dictators to seize power, but what has kept America strong and free from the temptations of authoritarianism is her eternal commitment to “We, the People” and to the protection of our rights. The challenges we face cannot be solved by silencing our political opponents and granting increased power to the government, but only by We, the People. Vote for democracy; vote no on Prop 50.