Yes on 50 to balance the scales.

This may sound counter-intuitive, but voting Yes on Proposition 50 will help neutralize political gerrymandering across the country. 

I know, on the surface it looks like it will have the opposite effect. In 2008 California voters passed Prop 11 which took the drawing of state legislative districts out of the hands of self-serving politicians and turned it over to an independent commission so politicians couldn't pick and choose their own voters anymore. In 2010 the passage of Prop 20 extended that to include California's congressional districts as well.

Prop 50 temporarily suspends Prop 20 for the next three election cycles, 2026, 2028, and 2030. It should be noted that Prop 11 will be unaffected. State legislative districts will continue to be determined by the independent commission. But California's congressional districts will be intentionally gerrymandered for the remainder of this decade.

The reason for this is to level the playing field and give both major political parties an even chance of having a majority in Congress. You see, Donald Trump recently requested that Texas re-draw its congressional districts to make more "red" districts which will most likely result in Texas electing more Republicans and fewer Democrats, putting the latter at a competitive disadvantage. This will increase the Republican majority in Congress making it easier for Donald Trump to pass legislation that will further his destructive, fascist agenda. 

Prop 50 will cancel out that imbalance and will likely create an equal number of "blue" districts to negate the Texas move.

I agree this shouldn't be necessary. If Donald Trump was playing fair, he never would have directed Texas to change the makeup of its Congressional districts for his political benefit. But that's what he did. Texas had an advantage over California already in that Texas doesn't have an independent commission to draw legislative districts. All it took was a request from Trump, an eager-to-please governor, and a compliant legislature to make it happen. Here in California more is needed: permission from the voters. This means you must show up and help pass Prop 50. 

But, you say, those No on 50 TV commercials say that we'll be abandoning our principles if we allow California's districts to be gerrymandered. That would be true if we were talking about state legislative districts which operate within the confines of our state. But nationally the principle doesn't work unless all states are playing by the same rules. It is Trump, Texas, and now Missouri, too, which have openly and brazenly changed the rules which puts Californians at a disadvantage on the national stage.

Make no mistake, the Republicans have no respect for the California's principles relating to the drawing of Congressional district boundaries. If they did, they would have independent redistricting commissions in red states, too. So for them to say the principles shouldn't be abandoned in California while not applying the principles at home is pure hypocrisy. They're counting on us to stand by our independent redistricting commission in order to advance their plans to dominate Congress. Don't let them get away with it. Vote Yes on Prop 50.