What's at stake?
It depends who you ask. Democracy, the future of independent redistricting, rural representation in Congress, and the number of representatives
Close to 530,000 people are registered to vote in Fresno County, according to elections officials. But will even half of them vote in an off-cycle statewide special election?
As of Monday, Nov. 3, election officials already received 139,432 ballots — about a 26% turnout the day before election day. That figure accounts for vote by mail ballots, as well as ballots picked up from dropboxes across the county.
We won’t have final numbers until all the ballots are counted, which can take elections officials a few weeks.
Voter turnout varies widely in Fresno County, depending on the type of election.
But current turnout for the Proposition 50 special election has already far exceeded the results from the March special election for Fresno City Council, District 5, where just 12.6% of registered voters showed up.
The last statewide special election was for the attempted recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom in September of 2021. Nearly 52% of Fresno County voters showed up in that election, higher than usual turnout for a ballot without presidential candidates on it.
But election day turnout drove longer lines at some polling locations in the city.
At the Fig Garden Regional Library in northwest Fresno, a line of voters spilled onto the sidewalk in the early afternoon.
The lines were like that all day, said the site’s elections coordinator, Lois Sandoval.
“People just keep on coming,” she said, looking out on the line of dozens of voters who had come to vote in person.
The Fig Garden location is one of the city’s four-day vote centers where people were able to cast ballots starting Saturday, Nov. 1.
Sandoval said their center had seen about 600 people since they opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday morning, and expected that total to double by the time they close at 8 p.m.
Posted up just beyond the end of line, a man was collecting signatures for a future ballot initiative, he said, with the hope of creating ID requirements for voters.
The man declined to share his name.
He and a poll worker both told Fresnoland he’d been asked to stand behind a designated line, about 100 feet away from the entrance to the vote center.
The man said he decided not to “fight” the poll workers on that.
Fresnoland spoke with voters throughout the city on Tuesday, learning about what motivated people to support or oppose Democratic Party gerrymandering in California to counter GOP gerrymandering in Texas.
Sunnyside resident Glenda Jackson, 53, dropped off her ballot Tuesday night at her local library polling site. She said she “always votes.”
Jackson said she believes there’s “lying on both sides” of the political aisle when it comes to Proposition 50. However, she said, recent experiences motivated her to vote “yes.” Jackson is an ex-federal worker, laid off during the government shutdown. She currently works in health care.
“I believe that the Democrats are not trying to give medical care to illegals,” Jackson said. “I really do believe they’re trying to just make sure that we get our (Affordable Care Act) credits. And so that’s why I voted how I did, based on health care.”
Elizabeth Perez, 53, stopped by the Inspiration Park vote center Tuesday afternoon to vote “yes” on Prop. 50.
She said the influence of some Democratic party leaders, including former president Barack Obama, convinced her to vote.
Perez, who’s currently unemployed, added that some of the issues driving her out to the polls included worries about the economic outlook under the Trump administration.
“Everything is just super expensive,” she said. “I’m fortunate enough to have a husband who works and has a great, great job.
“He makes OK money, and we can make it — but month to month, still.”
Felix Reyes cast his “yes” vote on Prop. 50 Tuesday afternoon at a vote center at Inspiration Park in west Fresno.
Reyes, 48, had planned to vote at the county elections office after eating lunch downtown.
But when he saw how long the line was downtown — and that “it wasn’t moving” — he opted to stop by the vote center near his home in west Fresno instead.
Reyes said he supported Prop. 50 after seeing how the current administration is “changing stuff on a whim, and lying all the time.”
“This is not normal,” he said.
Romereo Ross, a mail carrier with the U.S. Postal Service, cast his ballot at Woodward Park Regional Library on Tuesday morning.
Ross, 53, voted “yes” on Prop 50 because he believes the upcoming midterm and presidential elections are “essentially under attack.”
He hopes his vote helps combat the parallel efforts in states like Texas to gain Republican seats in Congress.
“As a person of color,” he added, “it would be nice to have gerrymandering work in my favor for once.”
Ross, who lives in the Hoover High School area, said Woodward Park is farther than he normally has to go to access a vote center. But he works near the library, which made the vote center still relatively convenient.
Not all the Fresno County vote centers people are used to visiting were open this election. That’s partly due to the smaller runway the Fresno County Clerk’s Office had to recruit poll workers after the special election was called about a month-and-a-half ago, Your Central Valley reported.
Jennifer Ellis, 50, a nurse from north Fresno, said it was important for her to be out voting to show that “Democrats have a voice.”
She voted yes on Prop 50, saying she wants to “make it a fair election across the board.”
Betty Lewis, 64, of southwest Fresno, said she voted to protect “our democracy, freedom of speech, and the Constitution.” She voted yes on Prop 50.
Darryah Hill, 21, an entrepreneur from Clovis, said she voted because “people have rights and need to understand what’s going on with the government.”
“We shouldn’t have dictators; everyone deserves human rights,” Hill said. “Everyone should be treated equally, no matter if you’re rich or poor, Black or Asian.”
She voted yes on Prop 50.
Toni Urena, a 30-year-old resident of southeast Fresno, cited multiple reasons for her “yes” vote on Prop 50. Primarily, Urena disagreed with the Texas state government’s decision to unilaterally redraw congressional district maps without voter approval.
“It just doesn’t make any sense to me,” Urena said in an interview.
She also explained that cuts to SNAP benefits, high cost of living and ICE raids motivated her to advocate for Prop 50.
“I’m always going to vote for people who are willing to fight for the community,” Urena said. “People come here to have a good living, have a good career, raise a good community and raise good children.”
Urena encourages everyone to vote freely and said she had no issues voting.
Annibelle Roest, a 19-year-old Fresno State student, said she voted “yes” for Prop. 50. Roest explained that while she doesn’t support gerrymandering, she also feels it is necessary to counteract gerrymandering in other states.
“I don’t think it’s fair that some states get to do it and other states don’t,” Roest said in an interview.
Roest noted that her voting experience was easy, despite needing a change of address.
Maria Ceballos, a 29-year-old government worker from southeast Fresno, voted “yes” on Prop 50, saying she supports redistricting to get more democratic votes and to address food insecurity locally.
“I have a lot of family members, some of them have SNAP benefits, and they’re not going to have food security,” Ceballos said in an interview.
Ceballos also explained she has had to rely on her savings to get through the government shutdown and is anxious about getting paid.
“We do need to have somebody better in power; honestly, it’s not working out,” Ceballos added.
Richard Martin, a 45-year-old from the McLane area, showed up to the Betty Rodriguez Library voting center along with his daughter. He said he cast a “no” vote for Prop. 50, citing his support for Donald Trump.
“I support everything Trump’s doing; I know people look at me because I am half Mexican, but you know what? We got to look out for our kids,” Martin told Fresnoland. “What’s wrong with the world? You know, I’m a Christian. I believe in Jesus Christ, and if we look around what’s going on, you know, people say, we are in the end times.”
“Gavin Newsom is no friend, I’m sorry; I really don’t believe he is looking out for the people,” Martin added.
Martin said the issues he sees locally are food insecurity and homelessness and noted that the voting experience was quick and easy.
Retired couple Robert and Rosemary Avery drove from their home south of Herndon between First and Fresno to the busy Woodward Park Regional Library vote center Tuesday morning. They were there to cast their “no” votes on Proposition 50.
Robert, 87, said the move from state leaders to preempt the state’s independent redistricting ahead of 2030 felt like “trickery.”
“This is sort of a maverick move by the leaders to try to get it jerry-rigged before 2030,” he said, “and we feel that’s a violation of our rights.”
Rosemary, 81, said that it’s always important to her to exercise her right to vote, which she calls a “privilege.”
The Averys, surprised at the steady stream of cars pouring into Woodward’s lot Tuesday morning, were also pleased to secure one of the designated curbside “Voter Parking” spots at the library.
“It was really cool,” Rosemary said of the reserved parking. “I’m impressed.”
Jessica Phengsiri, 46, a college instructor from southeast Fresno, said she came out to vote because of the “current political atmosphere” and supported Proposition 50 to protect human rights.
She added that in California, she sometimes feels “pigeonholed” when it comes to certain issues.
Phengsiri said that while she appreciates the number of voting centers across Fresno, especially in Clovis, she feels there’s still a lack of variety and access in south Fresno. She said more voting sites are needed within walking distance and near public transportation.
Gilbert Romero, 70, a retired plumber, said he came out to vote at the Ted C. Wills Community Center in the south Tower District for one main reason: Donald Trump. He explained that he was motivated by recent political developments in Texas, where in July, Trump reportedly urged Gov. Greg Abbott to redraw congressional districts mid-decade to create more Republican-leaning seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Romero voted yes on Proposition 50 because he said he wanted to prevent Republicans from changing California’s congressional districts.
This story will be updated throughout election day.
