Opinion: Prop. 50’s passage sets off chain of political and legal maneuvers
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks in the House chamber File photo by Rod Lamkey Jr Associated Press This column was originally published by CalMatters Sign up for their newsletters When California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition on Tuesday they set in motion political and possibly legal maneuvers that will ultimately determine whether its overt purpose increasing Democratic congressional members by five or more seats becomes reality The first is a political scramble among politicians in both parties to determine who will run where in next year s congressional elections Ambitious Democrats are lining up to run in the newly gerrymandered districts selected of which have been tailored to favor particular candidates The majority obvious example is a district that stretches from the heavily Republican northeastern corner of the state to the northern suburbs of San Francisco seemingly made to order for Mike McGuire the outgoing president pro tem of the state Senate In creating that district Gov Gavin Newsom and the Legislature aim to unseat Republican Doug LaMalfa who now represents northeastern California in Congress The plan would if productive shrink Republican districts from nine to four meaning that in a few areas such as in inland Southern California current GOP incumbents would be compelled to either retire or joust among themselves for survival Prop s political impacts hinge on the assumption that maps ratified by the ballot measure truly are in effect for next year s elections While it s likely they will be used there s a possibility that courts will intervene By happenstance Prop s pro-Democrat gerrymander and the new pro-Republican gerrymander in Texas are occurring just as the U S Supreme Court weighs a major situation involving the federal Voting Rights Act Its outcome could impact both The Voting Rights Act passed by Congress in to bolster the civil rights of minorities particularly Black people in Southern states prohibits any voting procedure which results in a denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color While the law bars exclusionary voting laws it has been widely interpreted to require creation of districts specifically to increase chances for racial groups to elect representatives from their communities California s independent redistricting commission in plans drawn after the and censuses adopted that interpretation and the newly gerrymandered districts do as well However the interpretation is being challenged before the Supreme Court in a event out of Louisiana and its conservative members a majority have indicated both during arguments and in past rulings that they may consider it to be racial discrimination against white voters This court held that race-based affirmative action in higher learning must come to an end Solicitor Gen D John Sauer wrote in his brief in the Louisiana scenario The same is true he stated for using the Voting Rights Act to draw legislative districts that are likely to elect Black or Latino candidates President Donald Trump s Justice Department monitored Tuesday s voting and could contend that California s new congressional maps are discriminatory and should be suspended until the Supreme Court renders its decision Trump seemed to hint about intervention in a Truth Social post Tuesday denouncing Prop as a GIANT SCAM and reported that mailed ballots by far the the bulk prominent form of voting disenfranchise Republicans and are under very serious legal and criminal review He closed with STAY TUNED In the threat of intervention by Republican President George W Bush s administration thwarted plans by California s Legislature for a gerrymander favoring Democrats forcing them to make a deal with Republicans on maps that maintained the partisan status quo Even a brief interruption could undermine what Newsom and the Legislature seek in Prop because candidate filing for congressional districts opens on Dec and if the new maps are in legal limbo current districts would be used for the elections CalMatters is a nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization bringing Californians stories that probe explain and explore solutions to quality of life issues while holding our leaders accountable Want to submit a letter to the editor guest column or opinion piece Find our guidelines and submission form here
