California voters pass Prop 50 to redraw the state’s congressional maps, CBS News projects

The Insta-call is absolutely hilarious.

Libbing the fuck out tonight

Is this what hope feels like

Instant call was the cherry on top tonight

Fuck yes fuck Texas and fuck the GOP

Hopefully governors in all Blue states take this as a mandate and start fighting with firep

I see more Rs fleeing California for Texas soon lol.

Good job my fellow Californians!!! let’s keep this momentum going forward

This is fucking nuts!! The polls were so overwhelmingly yes on Prop 50 that they called it without ANY of the votes counted. I’m speechless.

Trump taking Ls from coast to coast!

Suck it Texas

The people have spoken tonight. Get fucked, Trump.

Democracy fights back

Two wins in one day!
Feels good to not feel bad.

This thing has fucking *passed*. So far 2/3 of the vote. Holy shit.

Lord, it’s been such a good night for democracy!

I was so agitated waiting for the polls to close here, but we didn’t even have to wait that long!

Fuck yeah CA, I love you and I will never leave you!

It’s important to note the difference between what went on in Texas vs. California.

In Texas, the redistricting process is inherently partisan and legislature controlled. Texas Republicans took it upon themselves to unilaterally redraw maps mid census, and final approval came from the governor.

But in CA, the process is different because it is designed to be nonpartisan. Redistricting is handled by an independent commission.

So any attempt to redraw maps in CA requires both a vote from the legislature and the people. Additionally, the redistricting is only temporary.

Is Newsom’s response to Texas controversial? I suppose, but at this point, fighting fire with fire is an effective and acceptable strategy in my book.

But more importantly, because in one state you have lawmakers unilaterally deciding who their voters are, and in another, the decision is ultimately left up to a vote while the subsequent newly drawn maps will be temporary, I think it helps illustrate the difference between authoritarianism and democracy.

That said, if gerrymandering were eliminated and all maps were drawn equitably and fairly by independent commissions, Democrats would most likely benefit from it, but if the US were gerrymandered to the maximum extent possible, Republicans would likely benefit most.

I think this says a lot about how Republicans have taken advantage of voter geography over the years.

Democrats benefit from fair maps, Republicans benefit from extreme gerrymandering.

It’s about urban vs rural voter distribution and Democrats being more vulnerable to gerrymandering because they are typically concentrated in one area. It’s also about how Republicans have been benefitting from gerrymandering due to their disproportionate control over state legislatures, and thus control over redistricting.

Analyses show that when states have fair maps, drawn by independent commissions, representation is more fairly split, especially in Republican controlled states where Democrats gain seats where they otherwise wouldn’t because their share of voters are not fairly represented. When those same states are gerrymandered to hell, Republicans win more seats.

And once again, because Republicans tend to be overrepresented in state legislatures, they have broader control of gerrymandering, which is compounded by the fact that these Republican controlled legislatures in states like Texas grant themselves the unilateral authority to decide who their voters are and not the other way around.

Republicans are going to use the opportunity they have right now to continue consolidating power for the foreseeable future. Which means that these redistricting wars will be ongoing and the more they continue, the more it will chip away at the democratic process. Not to mention all the other ways in which Republicans are currently dismantling democracy in favor of establishing what can only be described as single party rule.

Are Democrats just supposed to stand by and let it happen? Fear the double standard as criticism is unfairly directed at them if they continue to respond to these efforts in kind?

Republicans have benefitted from this sort of skewed voter geography structure for decades. We need a complete overhaul of our electoral and campaign finance systems, and it’s not going to happen while Republicans hold power. For that matter, it’s unlikely to happen if we don’t start electing more progressive candidates into office.

We’re also going up against a party that has been steadily suppressing the vote for years, but what really helped accelerate this effort was January 6th and Trump’s ‘big lie” of a stolen election.

The GOP has basically seized on this post January 6th opportunity to sow distrust in our elections. Republicans have piggybacked off Trump’s lies of election fraud, and have been drawing from the well of conspiracy theories and misinformation that followed January 6th to lead a nationwide campaign of disenfranchisement and voter suppression.

They’ve exploited this moment to empower themselves with more legal authority to challenge the results of elections. They’ve granted their party more power, control and supervision over our election system.

They can now deny, subvert and overturn future elections with near impunity.

Republicans are consolidating power at an alarming rate; abusing their trifecta and their control over state legislatures to give themselves the ultimate say on how maps are drawn. This brazen mid-census redistricting effort would also not be possible without Trump practically normalizing saying fuck all to democratic norms.

To make matters worse, Trump has been federalizing the military and local law enforcement in order to centralize authoritarian control over US cities and urban areas; a military presence he will undoubtedly utilize to suppress the vote in upcoming elections.

On top of all of this, Republicans are currently taking excessive steps to retool their political power and dilute the minority vote by challenging section 2 of the voting Rights Act.

They have the audacity to claim that they’re “protecting the integrity of our elections,” while they’re making every kind of effort to subvert the vote, unilaterally redraw maps, limit voter participation, and influence the outcome of elections.

Conservatives are going bonkers right now. Saying that all republicans will fight back and all red states should do it too. Didn’t this all start because he ALREADY did this with Texas? 💀💀💀

Post from Conservative: 

Since Newsom did this, I hope that EVERY red state reciprocates. He opened a Pandora’s box. ***I hope that Texas redistricts even more than they have too***

Too stupid to realize they contradicted themselves twice in two whole sentences.

CNN’s concern trolling is exhausting

> However, it has also set off an escalating tit-for-tat around the country as more states move to gerrymander in response to, or against, the president.

Bitch, Republicans would have done what they did anyway. We can either lay down and take it or fight back.

You’re welcome, y’all. Two Yes votes from my house. 💪

Gotta say this is the first day in a long time I opened this subreddit and didn’t feel the need to rip out of my fucking hair