The ongoing government shutdown is expected soon to delay food benefits and impact pay for federal employees. But will it have any effect on California’s special election on redistricting?
The short answer is no, according to the California secretary of state’s office.
“The only possible impact would be if United States Postal Service operations were interrupted and the USPS has noted that their operations won’t be interrupted,” a spokesperson for the secretary of state said in an email.
Related: Southern California’s guide to Prop. 50, the 2025 redistricting election
Natashi Garvins, a spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service in Southern California, confirmed that.
“U.S. Postal Service operations will not be interrupted in the event of a government shutdown, and all Post Offices will remain open for business as usual,” the agency said back in September. “Because we are an independent entity that is generally funded through the sale of our products and services, and not by tax dollars, our services will not be impacted by a government shutdown.”
Garvins also pointed to a Wednesday, Oct. 22, release from the Postal Service, which said it’s ready to handle an increase in mail and packages due not only to the ongoing election, but also the holiday season.
Still, California elections officials have advised voters who choose to vote by mail to get their ballots in early this year.
Due to changes to mail service this year, people living more than 50 miles from a U.S. Postal Service regional mail processing hub who drop off their ballot in a mailbox or at a post office on Election Day won’t have a guarantee that their ballot will be postmarked that same day. Instead, it could be postmarked the day after — too late for the ballot to count.
There are other ways voters can cast ballots, too.
Voters can drop off their ballot at a secure designated drop box, polling location, county elections office or vote centers, many of which open on Saturday, Oct. 25.
The federal government remains shuttered as U.S. senators continue to be at loggerheads over spending plans.
Both sides blame each other for the ongoing shutdown. Democrats have said they will not support a plan to reopen the government unless it includes a provision to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year; Republicans have said they want the government to reopen first before they consider a plan to extend those subsidies.
Meanwhile, California is in the midst of a special election on redistricting.
Voters are being asked whether to implement new congressional maps for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections. That would mean forgoing the current maps drawn by a 14-member group comprising five Republicans, five Democrats, and four commissioners not affiliated with the two major parties.
The idea only impacts congressional races. And it’s a partisan one, an effort to favor Democrats in California’s congressional elections as a way to counter similar, Republican-led plans elsewhere in the country to boost the GOP.