Fanning out recently in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Westchester, community members are going door-to-door to urge voters to “fight back” against the Trump administration and approve Proposition 50, according to organizer Elizabeth Kane.
Activists said the ballot measure would counteract Republican efforts to gain congressional seats in Texas. This neighborhood canvassing event was one of several ongoing campaigns that will continue until voting closes.
About half of those answering their doors said they back Prop 50, which would redraw California’s congressional districts to attempt to flip up to five seats for Democrats.
Proposition 50 authorizes a “temporary change” that redraws California’s congressional district maps and puts them into use starting in 2026. The proposition, dubbed the “Election Rigging Response Act,” responds to Texas’s mid-decade redistricting, which could potentially give Republicans five additional seats in the House of Representatives. Proposition 50 would redraw lines in California so that Democrats would likely reclaim five Republican seats and ultimately, balance out Texas’s possible seat pickup.
Mail-in ballots were sent out on October 6 and drop-off locations opened the following day on October 7. Vote-by-mail ballots must be received by November 4. That’s why this particular group of volunteers hit the streets on September 21.
Kane, who is president of the Westchester Playa Democratic Club, said she believes Prop 50 can “counteract all the fascism that’s coming down from the top.”
When Trump “calls the governor of another state and says, ‘Hey, I need those seats,’ and they just say yes and they don’t even take [it] to their voters, that’s scandalous,” Kane said. “And so this is giving us an opportunity to fight back against that.”
Kane trained the small group of volunteers at 10 a.m. in the house of a fellow Westchester resident. Each participant is equipped with a packet and stack of literature bearing a picture of President Trump’s face accompanied by “Stop Trump From Rigging Elections.” The packet contains a script that includes questions like “What do you think of what’s been happening to our state and country?”
It also includes additional background information regarding Prop 50 in case any questions arise, including responses such as, “Trump and Republicans don’t fight fair, and Democrats need to recognize this and stop playing with one hand tied behind their backs.”
Kane claims that, with training new canvassers, it is most important to emphasize that volunteers are not alone.
“The biggest challenge of canvassing is just getting over that fear,” Kane said. “We really try to partner people up. We do a really good training and make people feel confident. We’re here as a community.”
Canvassers are instructed to partner up and follow a routine. First, using the Political Data Intelligence (PDI) mobile app, the volunteers scan a code to receive “cut turf.” From there, the app provides the names and registered parties of residents in a particular “turf” as well as whether they voted in the last election.
They are encouraged to “knock loudly.” If doors are answered, the canvassing team must first confirm the name of the resident and whether they are aware of Proposition 50. Their answers will be coded in the app accordingly. If residents are not home, canvassers leave a piece of literature, similar to a mailer, under the doormat or in the door handle.
During training, canvassers are instructed to heavily emphasize the voting date, which is November 4, in addition to requesting that unregistered voters quickly register before ballots are sent out.
For every group, approximately half of residents answered and most said they were planning to vote “yes” for Prop 50. One resident said he needed no convincing because he wanted to do “anything to stop Trump.”
“We can’t just sit back and wait because, if we do, there might not be another election,” Kane said.
Although a few were new to door-to-door work, most attendees were seasoned canvassers.
Catherine Tyrrell, who has worked with the Westchester Democrats for nearly eight years, said she believes it is “absolutely critical” to vote yes for Prop 50.
“I am all in favor of having independent citizen commissions,” Tyrrell said. “But if it’s not fair all around the country, then we have to do what we can in California to make sure we have a fair chance at the next election.”
Another participant, Ahmanise Sanati, said she wants to encourage voting in favor of Prop 50 in order to “preserve our democracy.”
Sanati, who is the vice president of the Westchester Dems and a delegate in the California Democratic Party for Assembly District 61, considers canvassing to be her duty as a mother and often brings her two children, ages 10 and 13, with her to campaign.
“I feel this inherent obligation to do everything possible to make this world better,” Sanati said. “I actually have fun having these conversations because it helps me understand what’s going on and understand the work that needs to be done.”
For Vidisha Rai, Prop 50 is an emergency response to protect American democracy, which she believes is under threat. Risking the potential rejection of voters is worth the reward of “counteract[ing] these horrible measures.”
“There are people that are going to shut the door in your face; there are people that are not going to answer the door, and that’s part of the process,” Rai said. “You can’t be discouraged by that. You simply just have to keep going.”