It’s time for proportional representation

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OPINION – Recent polling shows that Prop 50 – Governor Newsom’s counter-gerrymandering ballot initiative to redraw California’s congressional map in favor of Democrats – is likely to pass. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, 56% of voters plan to vote “Yes” on 50.

Voters’ support isn’t surprising: Democrats have dominated California’s state legislature for 60 of the last 65 years. But what voters’ motivations reveal is how deeply polarization and fear now shape our politics. Among those voting Yes on 50, 75% say they’re doing so to oppose Donald Trump, while only 41% cite support for Gavin Newsom.

That fear may come at a cost. By gerrymandering as a defensive measure, Democrats are asking Californians to sacrifice fair elections in the name of protecting national democracy. It’s a tradeoff voters may come to regret — especially if gerrymandering fails to deliver the congressional majority Democrats hope for, which a handful of recent developments suggest.

Since the gerrymandering wars began in August, the “playing field” Democrats seek to level has only grown more uneven. The Supreme Court appears poised to weaken or overturn the Voting Rights Act, potentially flipping a dozen blue congressional seats red. Meanwhile, seven Republican-led states have already launched efforts to redraw their maps for partisan gain. The only other Democratic-led state taking similar action before 2026 is Virginia.

In this light, if Democrats are really trying to “fight fire with fire,” Prop 50 is akin to bringing a candle to a bonfire. But when Republicans stop playing by the rules, what other option do Democrats have but to do the same?

Instead of either breaking or playing by the rules, they can change them.

The path to defeating Trump and pulling the country back from the brink of authoritarianism won’t come from copying the Republican’s playbook. To address gerrymandering — and the toxic two-party culture driving it — California needs structural democracy reform.

Most advanced democracies around the world don’t need to deal with gerrymandering – not because they’ve also adopted independent redistricting committees, but because they use an electoral system designed to prevent zero-sum politics. That system is called proportional representation (PR), and it’s the most commonly used form of election for national legislatures in the world.

The key difference between PR and America’s system is how representatives are elected. The U.S. uses single-member districts, where one representative “wins it all.” PR uses multi-member districts, where seats are allocated to parties in proportion to the votes they receive. If a party earns 20% of the vote, it earns 20% of the seats. Every vote counts, and elections become reflections of voter preferences rather than all-or-nothing contests for domination.

With multiple representatives per district, it’s nearly impossible to manipulate district lines to favor one party, so the incentive to gerrymander disappears. PR also produces multiparty legislatures, where coalition-building replaces polarization, and debate rarely devolves into the toxic binaries that have long crippled U.S. politics.

Proportional representation is a proven reform that can extinguish the political fire burning down our democracy. And as Prop 50 demonstrates, California’s ballot initiative process gives citizens a powerful tool to enact major reforms without relying on the legislature or governor.

While California can’t impose PR for federal elections, it can adopt it for its own state legislature. Doing so would allow the Golden State to break free from the two-party politics tearing the nation apart, usher in a new era of multiparty governance that rewards cooperation, and offer a model for other states to follow.

No matter how Californians vote on Prop 50, one truth remains: our democracy is broken, and duct-taping over the cracks with gerrymandering won’t fix it. Proportional representation is the firebreak California needs — a reform that makes every vote count, every voice matter, and every party compete for the people instead of manipulating the rules.

If California truly wants to lead the nation, this is the battle line we must draw.

Caledon Myers is the Executive Director of ProRep Coalition, a nonprofit advocating for multiparty democracy through proportional representation in California.