Former President Barack Obama is backing a redistricting effort in California, appearing in a new ad.

Obama is the star of an ad being aired across California that urges people to vote “yes” for Proposition 50, a measure that would redistrict the state to give Democrats five more congressional seats. In the ad, Obama presents the vote as part of an existential struggle for American democracy.

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“California, the whole nation is counting on you. Democracy is on the ballot November 4,” he says in the ad. “Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to rig the next election and wield unchecked power for two more years.”

Proposition 50, Obama argues, would allow Californians to “stop Republicans in their tracks.”

“Prop 50 puts our elections back on a level playing field, preserves Independent Redistricting over the long term, and lets the people decide,” he says.

The measure would temporarily enact a new congressional map for elections through 2030 that effectively strips Republicans of five districts. The move was presented by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) as a tit-for-tat retaliation to an aggressive redistricting move by Texas Republicans in August, which granted them five seats. California is the first blue state to respond to the move.

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Obama is the most prominent of several national Democrats the party has trotted out to support the move. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Alex Padilla (D-CA) have all thrown their weight behind the measure.

California’s Proposition 50, in turn, has pushed Republicans in several other red states to initiate redistricting efforts to improve their position as well. North Carolina is the latest state to enter the fray on Monday, seeking to add a Republican seat in the state, changing the hoped-for ratio to 11-3 in 2026.