Tuesday is the final day to cast ballots in the special election on Proposition 50, the statewide congressional redistricting proposal.
Dubbed by supporters as "The Election Rigging Response Act," Prop. 50 would establish new congressional district maps for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections. An analysis by the election news website Ballotpedia said it would shift five Republican-held congressional districts toward Democrats.
Democrats hold a 43-9 advantage in the state's House delegation.
Voters in Poway will also decide whether to remove a city council member facing felony charges, including allegedly soliciting a bribe.
More than 140 official ballot drop boxes will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., according to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters.
In-person voting can be done at 68 vote centers throughout the county.
Shawn Brom, the assistant registrar of voters, says people eligible to vote but not registered can register and vote today at any of those vote centers. It's all about reducing barriers to voting, he said.
"That starts for mailing every active registered voter a ballot," Brom said Tuesday. "And if people (missed) the Oct. 20th voter registration deadline for this election, they can still go to a vote center."
Same-day registration voters vote conditionally, he said.
"Once that registration is valid, then their ballot will be counted," Brom said.
The Justice Department said last month it would monitor polling sites in some majority-Democratic districts in California.
While San Diego didn't make the department's list, Brom said elections should be transparent and that the county welcomes public observers.
"People can go to a voting centers," he said. "They can come to our office ... but we haven't seen any disruptions out there. So people are at the vote centers observing as they should and observing the rules."
Proposition 50 could help swing the House back to a Democratic majority after the 2026 midterm elections.
Gov. Gavin Newsom says it will offset a similar move in Texas designed to create more Republican seats.
Backers of the measure say it "draws fair maps that represent California's diverse communities and ensure our voices aren't silenced by Republican gerrymandering in other states."
Opponents say Proposition 50 "creates one of the most extreme partisan gerrymanders in modern American history" and is a "threat to democracy and fair elections in California," according to the campaign against the measure.
In a telephone interview with City News Service, Assemblyman Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, urged Californians to vote "no" on Proposition 50.
"I'm urging them not to get manipulated by California Democrat politicians who are just trying to seize power to protect their own a—-," DeMaio said, who is also the chairman of the Reform California political group. The group has waged a campaign against Proposition 50 and qualify a voter ID initiative for the 2026 November ballot.
"They need to protect their election because they've done such a miserable job in this state on the issues that matter to voters: cost of living, homelessness, and job losses," DeMaio added.
According to the legislator, California Democrats are using President Donald Trump as an excuse to get what they want.
"If Prop 50 passes, it is a fatal blow to the whole concept of fairness and the very foundation of our democracy undermined," DeMaio told CNS.
He opposed both efforts by California and Texas, and criticized any other state attempting to the do the same.
In October, Rivas and a group of Los Angeles County Democratic legislators conducted a news conference to call on residents to vote yes on Proposition 50 and to "stop Trump's attacks on LA's immigrants and economy."
In a telephone interview on Oct. 2, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D- Hollister, told City News Service that Proposition 50 "is so important because at a time when this president and this administration are bullying other states, led by Republicans, to redistrict congressional lines mid-decade to create an advantage and the opportunity for Republicans to remain in power, we have no choice as a state but to fight back and to advance our own plan to counter this nonsense."
