California Proposition 50 will pass, ABC News projects

The California Republican Party announced a federal lawsuit aimed at blocking the state's new House maps after the passage of Prop. 50.

The day after California voters approved new congressional district boundaries, the California Republican Party on Wednesday announced a federal lawsuit aimed at blocking the state's new House maps.

State Assemblyman David Tangipa, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, discussed it at a morning press conference where he was joined by Corrin Rankin, chairwoman of the California Republican Party, and attorney Mark P. Meuser of the Dhillon Law Group.

Eighteen California voters are also co-plaintiffs in the suit, which alleges that newly approved Proposition 50 "unconstitutionally gerrymanders districts in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments."

The ballot measure created a new congressional map with the goal of giving Democrats five more of the state's 52 congressional seats. It easily passed and will temporarily change district lines for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections.

The Dhillon Law Group is a San Francisco-based firm started by Harmeet Dhillon, who now works for the U.S. Department of Justice. The firm calls the new district map unconstitutional, saying it favors Latino voters.

"The map is designed to favor one race of California voters over others," Columbo told reporters. "This violates the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection under the law, and the right under the 15th Amendment to not have one's vote abridged on account of race."

Newsom's office said in a post on social media that the state hasn't reviewed the lawsuit but is confident the challenge will fail.

"We haven't reviewed the lawsuit, but if it's from the California Republican Party and Harmeet Dhillon's law firm, it's going to fail. Good luck, losers," the post reads.

Fresno County officials begin ballot counting after Californians voted to pass Proposition 50.

With polls closed now throughout Fresno County, the race begins to count all those ballots.

Despite Prop 50 being projected to pass, officials here are still working through tens of thousands of ballots that were returned on Tuesday.

It was a busy Election Day that at times translated into some lines at area vote centers.

But officials say it was largely smooth sailing, with very limited issues - largely related to parking.

There are various teams out and about collecting election materials and returning them to the Fresno County Election Warehouse in southeast Fresno for processing.

Fresno County Clerk and Registrar of Voters James Kus says his officials will be working well into the night and through Wednesday.

"When we start processing a VBM ballot, it's not an automatic process. We have to scan in that ballot. We have to then compare the signatures versus the signature in the registration record. And it's all done by humans. It takes time. It takes about two days, usually, to go from when we get it to when it's processed and ready for tabulation," Kus said.

And with all that processing still ahead, we aren't expecting any updated results on Wednesday.

Kus says the next tranche of returns will come before 5 p.m. Thursday and it won't be until next week when most of the ballots have been processed.

Over the course of several hours at the Fresno County Election Warehouse, none of the expected federal election observers were seen.

President Donald Trump posted on social media Tuesday night after election results from across the country were called.

In California, Prop 50 was projected to pass. The measure was a direct response to Trump telling Texas to redraw congressional districts before the midterm elections in order to gain more Republican seats.

On the East Coast, Democrat Zohran Mamdani is projected to be New York City's next mayor. In his victory speech, Mamdani said, "Donald Trump, since I know you're watching. Four words for you: Turn the volume up."

In Virginia, Democrat Abigail Spanberger is state's first female governor, according to projections. Democrat Mikie Sherrill is projected to be the new governor of New Jersey.

Trump posted in a on Truth Social, "...AND SO IT BEGINS!"

Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke in Sacramento after election projections announced that Proposition 50 will pass.

Newsom said he is proud of California standing up President Donald Trump. He said Trump is trying to rig the midterms elections "before one single vote is cast."

Watch Newsom's full speech:

Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke in Sacramento after election projections announced that Proposition 50 will pass. Watch his full speech here.