In-person early voting on Prop. 50 kicks off Saturday in San Diego County

Polls will open this Saturday for in-person voting in California’s special election on whether to let the Legislature redraw the state’s congressional maps.

Nearly three dozen vote centers will open this weekend in San Diego County in the election on Proposition 50, a ballot measure that could help determine which party will control Congress after midterm elections next year.

The initial round of vote centers will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. More vote centers are set to open on Nov. 1., offering voters a total of 68 locations countywide to cast a ballot.

But the vast majority of voters are expected to cast their ballots by mail. All registered voters were mailed one and can complete and cast them by mail, at a vote center or in one of dozens of ballot drop boxes countywide.

Mailed ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 4.

Election officials stressed that fewer vote centers will be open this year because it’s a special election. Voters should expect long lines if they wait to vote until Election Day.

In a call with reporters Tuesday, Secretary of State Shirley Weber urged voters to postmark mail-in ballots prior to that day, due to slow processing times at the United States Postal Service.

If passed, Prop. 50 would suspend through 2030 the current congressional maps drawn by the state’s independent redistricting commission, replacing them with maps drawn by the state Legislature. The commission would then draw new maps after the 2030 census.

The new maps are expected to help Democrats pick up as many as five seats in the House of Representatives, a move Democrats hope will offset similar gerrymandering in Republican-led states.

In San Diego County, the new maps are expected to make the seat held by Rep. Darrell Issa more competitive.

The only other item on the ballot in this election is in Poway’s District 2, where voters will decide whether to recall City Councilmember Tony Blain, who is accused of harassing and bullying residents. The recall needs a simple majority to pass.