Proposition 50 is on the ballot, but it’s all about Donald Trump

California voters go to the polls on Tuesday to decide on a radical redistricting plan with national implications, but the campaign is shaping up to be a referendum on President Trump.

Proposition 50, a ballot measure to redistrict the state’s congressional districts, was pushed by Democrats to ask Texas and other GOP-majority states to redraw their congressional maps in favor of Republicans, a move designed to preserve Republican control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Opponents have said that Proposition 50 is a power grab by Democrats that will clearly disenfranchise Republican voters.

But supporters, fueled by a huge war chest in deep-blue California, have been able to vote against Trump and what they say are his efforts to destroy democracy. The president has never been popular in California, but months of unprecedented strikes, tariffs and environmental rollbacks have only increased the conflict.

“Trump is a polarizing figure,” said Rick Hessen, a professor of law and political science at UCLA. “He commands great loyalty from one group of people and great animosity from others. … It’s not surprising that this move is being portrayed as being tied to Donald Trump or Donald Trump.” [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom.

A CNN exit poll of California voters found that about half said their vote on Prop. 50 was a way to oppose Trump.

Proposition 50 illustrates how California’s hyper-partisan politics has changed. A UC Berkeley poll conducted last week in conjunction with The Times found that more than 10 percent of Democrats supported Proposition 50, and a similar proportion of Republicans opposed it.

California voters have been bombarded for weeks with television ads, mailers and social media posts about the high-profile special election, with only 2% of likely voters undecided, according to the poll.

As if on cue, Trump was weighing in on the 50 proposition Tuesday morning as the polls continued.

“The illegal redistricting vote in California is a massive fraud, the entire process, especially the voting itself, is a fraud,” Trump said on Indeed Social, minutes after polls opened in California.

The president did not provide any evidence for his allegations.

Newsom dismissed the president’s claims about X being “the ramblings of an old man who knows he’s losing.”

At a White House briefing Tuesday afternoon, White House Press Secretary Carolyn Leavitt claimed, without providing examples, that California is receiving votes in the name of undocumented immigrants who cannot legally vote.

Secretary of State Shirley Weber, California’s top election official, called Trump’s accusations “another baseless claim.”

“The bottom line is that California’s election has been upheld by the courts,” Weber said in a statement. “California voters will not be fooled by those who continue to make desperate and unfounded efforts to prevent Americans from participating in our democracy.”

More than 6.3 million Californians — 28% of the state’s 28 million registered voters — had voted as of Monday, according to a voting tracker run by Democratic redistricting expert Paul Mitchell. Ballots submitted by Democrats outnumbered those cast by Republicans on Monday, although GOP voters are expected to vote in person on Election Day.

Micah Korp, a 50-year-old disabled Army veteran, had some choice words for Newsom outside the Twentynine Palms church that served as a polling place, calling the politician a “greasy used car salesman.”

Corp, a Republican, described Proposition 50 as an attempt by the governor to “do whatever he wants because he doesn’t like Trump.” Meanwhile, he said Texas’ decision to redraw its congressional districts was a necessity because of the influx of people there from California and other blue states.

“He’s fighting [Trump] In everything, Corp said about Newsom. “Give a little to get a little. That’s all he has to do.”

Matt Lesney, an assistant professor of political science at Cal State Long Beach, said the seeds of Proposition 50 were planted when it became clear that Republicans in Congress would either challenge Trump investigatively or provide serious oversight.

“One of the advantages of our system is that there are checks designed in and we haven’t exercised those checks in a good while, so I think it’s a Hail Mary for potential,” he said.

Bob Rowell, 72, said in an ideal world, 50 offers wouldn’t be necessary. But the Trump administration’s push for redistricting in red states “runs the unique risk of creating an endless Republican dominance in Congress,” he said. So Raoul, a member of the Green Party, voted yes.

“I hope there is a way to bring us back to balance,” he said.

Robert Hamilton, 35, an architectural draftsman who lives in Twentynine Palms, sees Proposition 50 as a necessary step to roll back Trump’s policies, which he says affect people’s rights. He is proud of the role that California is playing in this political moment.

“I think as a nation we’re trying to push back against some of the most extreme measures of our liberties,” Hamilton said outside a church where he just cast his vote in favor of the measure. “I hope that if this move is successful that other states will follow suit – not necessarily taking the same steps to reorganize but at least finding ways to hold the line while hopefully we can sort things out.”

Times staff writers Seema Mehta and Katie King contributed to this report.