Non-Partisan Voter Education Around Proposition 50 in California

By Sue Miller, Public Policy Committee Member

We are currently seeing and experiencing creeping authoritarian efforts to undermine fair representation, trusted information, and democratic norms in our country.  This unprecedented condition, paired with overwhelming federal encroachment, presents a significant threat to many of the things that we care about, including AAUW’s mission of advancing equity for women and girls: although California continues to maintain strong protections, we are still subject to the laws, rules, and enforcement actions of the federal government. As such, as part of this year’s GOTV campaign, AAUW California will be providing information-centered messages on the potential benefits of Proposition 50 for all Californians.

The approval of Proposition 50 by California voters in November 2025 will approve redistricting efforts in California for the next election cycles (until maps are redrawn after the next census in 2030).  With the passage of Proposition 50, we will experience a short-term loss  of state democratic and people-centered control of an important aspect of democracy: redistricting. This effort will also seemingly have partisan benefits. 

However, a short term loss of people-centered redistricting can also be seen as an investment in a democratic future in the long term, one in which we can have more, not less, of the will of the people recognized. Furthermore, partisanship may be seen as a reductive label when the choice has become one of supporting authoritarianism or preserving functional democracy. 

Redistricting should be in the hands of the people. Gender equity should be a consistent priority so that the dreams of a pluralistic democracy are one step closer to being realized. None of this is possible if our state is operating in a federal system in which democracy is no longer functional.

Our goal in this campaign is to provide reliable information as a trusted resource to voters in California, and the wider public, about the potential ramifications and potential benefits of Proposition 50’s passage and dispel misinformation about partisanship and redistricting in this political moment.  We seek to support any and all efforts to preserve and advance democracy and our public policy priorities in the face of a growing authoritarian threat.