Some Northern California voters to cast 2 ballots in Congressional District 1 double election
Northern California voters in some counties are navigating an unusual Election Day this year: two separate congressional elections happening at the same time for two different versions of the state's District 1 seat.
Voters will cast ballots twice on the same day, once in a special election to fill the remainder of late Congressman Doug LaMalfa's term, and again for the next full congressional term under newly redrawn district boundaries.
In Butte County, election officials are using two different ballot colors, purple and orange, to help voters keep the races straight.
"We've completely changed the color scheme for this," Butte County Registrar of Voters Keaton Denlay said while showing off the ballots headed to voters.
Confusion about the two ballots may stem from California's Proposition 50, which voters approved last year. The measure redraws the state's congressional map, including District 1 boundaries, and dramatically reshapes the political makeup of the district.
The current version of District 1 has long leaned heavily Republican. Under the new map, the district shifts to favor Democrats.
Proposition 50, which was backed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other legislative Democrats, intended to make five of the state's Republican-held congressional districts more favorable to Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections to offset redistricting in Texas that flipped five Democratic House seats to Republicans.
Matt Rexroad is a redistricting expert and strategist who has called out the effort to change district lines in communities across the country by Republicans and Democrats for political advantage.
"Calling both of those things District 1 is just a number being affixed to a geographic area," Rexroad said. "They're very different geographic areas, so it's a very different world."
Critics of the new map argue that the changes undermine voters in Northern California.
"This is a big middle finger to the voters of Northern California," Rexroad said.
All registered voters in Butte County will be inside the new and old District 1 lines, so they will all get these color-coded ballots to fill out, with a warning not to place the wrong color in the wrong envelope.
"We could run into issues," Denlay said. "Please don't do that. We're making it as easy as possible to keep it straight. Purple goes in the purple one, orange goes into the orange one."
For election officials, it's an unprecedented balancing act. For voters, it's a rare double dose of democracy on a single Election Day.