California

San Francisco Chronicle (opinion): 11-2-2025

(A) lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court may put the legitimacy of Prop 50’s maps in jeopardy should it pass, along with many other district maps nationwide.

Many states, including California, consider the race of voters in drawing their political maps. They do this to prevent minority votes from being dispersed and diluted, as Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act forbids.

In Louisiana v. Callais, the high court will decide whether a state’s intentional consideration of race to create these majority-minority voting districts violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.

SNIP

That’s a problem for California because its existing map and the proposed map under Prop 50 are race-conscious. As the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California notes, California’s existing map — drawn by the Citizens Redistricting Commission — had to satisfy Section 2, which meant using race: “drawing districts for voters of color.” The think tank similarly found that the Prop 50 map “largely matches the existing map on the sort of criteria the CRC was required to consider.”

https://eedition.sfchronicle.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=f3b7f344-0b5d-4add-b068-86e8b5a30793&share=true

According to the editorial, it means any proposed "gerrymandered" map may be vulnerable to a legal challenge.

And if/when SCOTUS rules, don't expect objectivity.