California redistricting foes file second petition to block election

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — California Republicans on Monday again filed suit over placing the question of congressional redistricting on the November ballot.

The legal move comes days after the state’s high court denied an earlier attempt to scuttle the special election, ruling that Republicans failed to meet their burden. After that ruling, the minority party vowed to continue the fight.

On Monday, Republican Assembly members, state senators, a former congressional candidate and voters filed an emergency petition asking the high court for a decision by Sept. 8.

In that petition, they call the ballot measure unconstitutional, as it would ask voters two different questions. It would also allow what they call an unlawful redistricting by the Legislature.

California currently uses an independent citizens commission to draw its district lines.

“By engaging in this unlawful effort in the middle of the decade, the Legislature is also unlawfully subjecting Californians to precisely the burden, tumult, and disruption that the Constitution was amended to prohibit more than once every 10 years,” the petitioners argue.

At issue is a ballot question, currently headed to a special Nov. 4 election, asking voters if they want to adopt new congressional maps through the 2030 election. Governor Gavin Newsom has pointed to President Donald Trump asking Texas Governor Greg Abbott to redistrict that state to give Republicans five more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Newsom has said California must respond in kind.

That response came in the form of a constitutional amendment and two bills that, combined, put the measure on the ballot and fund it. The legislation raced last week through the Legislature, securing Newsom’s signature before a Friday deadline.

The Republican petitioners argue the Legislature forced through the bills in violation of a required 30-day public notice period and that it violates a single-subject rule because it asks voters two different questions: whether they want the new maps approved and if they want the state to ask Congress to promote independent citizens commissions.

One ballot measure can’t propose a question about two different subjects, they argue.

“Allowing this unconstitutional measure onto the ballot would impose needless costs and uncertainty on both election officials and the public,” the petitioners say. “Counties must engage in substantial labor to prepare for and administer an election, including the time necessary to recalibrate voting systems, prepare polling places, re-educate voters, prepare and mail ballots, and collect, verify, and count ballots.”

The petitioners argue the proposed maps would separate existing communities by putting them into different congressional districts. One rural, northeast California district would include a portion of the coast and extend to Marin County in the Bay Area.

The campaign for the election is expected to draw millions of dollars. That’s a reason for the high court to swiftly decide the issue, as Californians otherwise will spend significant money on an unconstitutional ballot question, the petitioners claim.

“If the court defers judicial review until after the Nov. 4, 2025, special election, its ruling would come too late to avoid the turmoil and disruption of redistricting … and the expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer and private funds,” the petitioners say.

The petition to the state Supreme Court is the latest maneuver in an escalating war of words between Republicans and Democrats on the national stage. Newsom and his allies have said they’re giving the people the choice of whether to adopt new, temporary maps to offset Republican states. Republicans have argued Newsom is sidestepping the state’s citizens redistricting commission in hopes it’ll help a potential presidential run.

“Just filed a lawsuit to stop Newsom’s unconstitutional November power grab,” Assemblymember Kate Sanchez, a Rancho Santa Margarita Republican and one of the petitioners, posted on X. “He broke the rules. We’re taking him to court. This isn’t Left vs. Right. It’s Right vs. Wrong. Californians deserve a government that serves them, not corrupt politicians.”