Turnout remains steady across Los Angeles as voters weigh Proposition 50 and local races in California’s statewide special election.

Turnout was heavy as Californians cast ballots for Proposition 50, which would gerrymander five Republican House seats into likely Democratic ones. “It’s more than I thought,” said Jan Lopez, supervisor of a voting center in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles.

Proposition 50, the ballot measure overwhelmingly approved by California voters, could add up to five Democratic seats in California’s 52-member delegation. Here’s what this means. Seema Mehta is a veteran political writer who covers national and state politics, including the November special election about redistricting and the 2026 gubernatorial race. Since starting at Los Angeles Times in 1998, she has covered multiple presidential, state and local races. In 2019, she completed a Knight-Wallace fellowship at the University of Michigan. Mark E. Potts is the senior editor for video at the Los Angeles Times. A native of Enid, Okla., Potts graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a master’s degree in broadcast journalism. He has created and edited video for DreamWorks, YouTube, Microsoft, Sony and BET.

The closely watched election could influence which political party controls the House of Representatives after next year's midterms.

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

California voters approved Proposition 50, a measure that temporarily redraws the state’s congressional maps to put Democrats in a position to flip several seats in the 2026 midterm election. The proposal,

Proposition 50 would allow California Democrats to replace the state’s congressional maps with ones the party hopes will help them to flip five GOP-held seats.