Voters decide Newsom’s Proposition 50

California voters decide the fate of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Proposition 50, which poses a simple question: To gerrymander or not to gerrymander?

on Tuesday ballot measure is asking voters to approve Newsom’s plan to temporarily do away with California’s independent redistricting commission and instead adopt sham districts drawn to give Democrats an advantage in the national race for control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Polling stations close at 8 p.m

Newsom and his allies say Prop. 50 offset gerrymandering efforts in Republican-held states like Texas, Missouri and North Carolina designed to help the GOP retain control of Congress and pass more of President Donald Trump’s agenda in his last two years.

Opponents of Prop. 50 argued that the measure amounted to a power grab by Newsom and Sacramento’s political elite and that politicians should not be able to draw their own regional lines.

More than 5.9 million ballots — about 26 percent of those who received ballots by mail — have already been returned, according to Political Data Inc., which tracks ballots in every county. Final survey shows strong support for Prop. 50with 56 percent of likely voters telling the Public Policy Institute of California they are in favor and 60 percent of likely voters supporting in a Berkeley Institute for Governmental Research survey.

Under the new maps, some different parts of the state are lumped together, such as a a wacky-shaped neighborhood in the Upstate which combines rural and conservative Modoc County with the ultraliberal Bay Area in Marin County. The city of Huntington Beach, a conservative stronghold in Orange County that has banned the LGBTQ pride flag on city property, will be represented by a progressivea gay Peruvian immigrant, the top Democrat on the US House’s main investigative committee.

and a a game of musical chairs in San Diego and Riverside counties could pit longtime Republican members of Congress against one another as the number of GOP seats won dwindles. A few salivating Democrats have already declared, they will move in the newly formed onethe Democrat-friendly 48th Congressional District, which Republican Darrell Issa currently represents.

In the weeks leading up to Election Day, voters in the typically low turnout central valley proved that although many Californians had not heard of Prop. 50 by name, the redistricting issue is familiar enough to them that they can quickly form an opinion after learning about the measure.

The Yes side covered the airwaves with $55.4 million in ads featuring prominent Democrats and had significant fundraising advantage — more than twice as many as their opponents. The No campaign spent just $8.9 million on broadcast and video advertising, according to AdImpact for ad tracking.

Voters in five California counties — Fresno, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside — may come across federal election observers by the Ministry of Justice at their polling stations. Newsom also stoked fears in the Latino community that immigration agents may appear at polling stations. An ICE spokesperson told CalMatters that the agency is not planning “targeted enforcement actions” at polling places.