After the California Legislature called a special election for Nov. 4, voters will be asked to temporarily suspend the state's independent system that creates U.S. Congressional districts and instead use maps that are designed to favor Democrats.

To understand what Democratic leaders are asking of voters, it helps to look back at the days when California lawmakers drew those maps.

For most of California's history, the State Legislature controlled the redistricting process every 10 years based on the population numbers from the U.S. Census. It was a notoriously political process, leading to some strange-looking maps with districts created to keep a party or a politician in power. This approach tended to protect incumbents and the majority party.

In 2005, then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegg

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