In a 63.9% majority, California voters passed Proposition 50 at the special elections this Tuesday, Nov. 4. Backed by legislative Democrats and Governor Gavin Newsom, Prop. 50 was proposed to counter Texas passing their own map of new congressional districts in August, according to the Central News Network.

Congressional districts are typically drawn every ten years after the state censuses, with each district allowed to send one representative to the House of Representatives. Texas’s plan redrew five seats previously held by Democrats, making them open to the Republican party. California’s Prop. 50 responded to this by proposing a new map of California’s districts that will redraw five seats to flip them to the Democratic Party.

Student reactions have been largely mixed, with many falling somewhere in the middle. Some students deem the proposition an appropriate decision.

“I’m not going to say, ‘Oh, [Prop. 50] is fine because Texas did it first,’ but I think it was a necessary reaction,” Los Altos High School junior Sam Hiltgen said. “Maybe, someday soon, we won’t need to resort to gerrymandering to protect the people of our country, but right now, I think this is a necessary counter action.”

However, other students express their concerns over the fairness of the new districts while applauding the proposition’s overall goal.

“Proposition 50 was a worthy attempt at responding to gerrymandering in California, though I would caution hastily enacting bills given by people who could be using the government shutdown interim as a pandering mechanism for power,” Los Altos High senior Ella Omura said.

Some students simply commended Newsom’s political bravery.

“Prop. 50 was the biggest gamble of Governor Newsom’s political career,” Nueva junior Kyle Wan said. “He went all in on black and won.”