CA Republicans Sue Over Voter-Approved Redistricting, Proposition 50

California Republicans have filed a lawsuit against Prop 50, the redistricting measure that passed in a special election on Tuesday. 

The Details: On Wednesday morning, the California Republican Party and a group of voters sued California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) and California Secretary of State Shirley Weber (D), alleging that Democrats “engaged in unconstitutional racial gerrymandering” and that state lawmakers violated the Constitution “when it drew new congressional district lines based on race, specifically to favor Hispanic voters, without cause or evidence to justify it.” The lawsuit asks the district court to permanently halt Prop 50 from taking effect.

Key Quote: “For us, this one is about the Constitution,” California Republican Party Chair Corrin Rankin said at a press conference. “It’s about the rights that our ancestors have fought so hard for in this country.”

For Context: Amendments 14 and 15 of the U.S. Constitution guarantee "equal protection under the law" and "the right of voters not to have their votes diminished because of race." The Supreme Court has allowed racial gerrymandering in special cases where voters who would benefit from redistricting "can't get elected because of the votes of another majority party."

How the Media Covered It: The New York Times (Lean Left bias) reported that the "swift" challenge to Prop 50 could be difficult since California Republicans were unsuccessful in trying to prevent the ballot measure through litigation earlier this year. The Epoch Times (Lean Right bias) reported that, according to the lawsuit, two analyses of the redrawn congressional maps indicate that there were no voting rights problems that warranted Prop 50.

To see which ballot measures passed or failed on election day, go here.

Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Suggest an improvement to this summary.