Castro Valley residents rally for Prop. 50

Major debates have sparked in California regarding a Democrats response to Republicans, headlined by Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump redistricting of congressional maps. In Texas, Republicans stand to gain five new seats. The question for Prop 50 is whether California should do the same and redistribute to add five Democratic seats to its map.

On the left, supporters believed that Prop. 50 is a valid response to the silencing of votes in Texas and the measure stops Pres. Trump from taking more power. “It’s the lesser of two evils. We’ve got to get behind it or it may be the last election we can ever vote in,” said Olivia Thomas, a protester on Castro Valley Boulevard who supports Prop. 50. 

“It’s too bad we have to do this. We know that gerrymandering is bad, but this is important, it’s the only way we can really stop what’s going on,” said Jackie Black, another protester.

Conservatives see Prop. 50 as taking power away from voters on the right and believe that it’s too big an injustice to be worth anything. “Prop. 50 takes the redistricting power away from citizens and gives that power back to the politicians, so they can manipulate the election district lines for their own personal political benefit,” said Reform California, a news organization led by Republican Assemblyman Carl DeMaio. 

“Californians created the gold standard for fair elections: independent, citizen-led redistricting that ensures voters pick their representatives, not the other way around. Prop. 50 would tear that down, even temporarily, and hand the power back to Sacramento politicians. That’s not progress, that’s going backwards. Voters are supposed to choose their representatives, not the other way around,” said the California Republican Party regarding the bill.

The last day to vote in the Prop. 50 special election is Nov. 4. As the final days loom closer, the debate has ramped up and it’s close enough that both sides seem to believe that they will win. Current polls estimate 54% of voters favor Prop 50.