On a recent Thursday evening, pastor Shantell Owens opened the doors of her Genesis Church in Antioch , an eastern Contra Costa County suburb, to two League of Women Voters volunteers.

Their mission: explain Proposition 50 , the measure on California’s November ballot that would redraw the state’s congressional lines to help Democrats win more U.S. House seats.

Owens beams as she describes the church’s services in a neighborhood rocked by shootings last year. Genesis distributes free groceries every Saturday morning, hosts financial empowerment workshops — and on this evening offered a crash course on California’s Nov. 4 special election .

“My biggest fear is that when people don’t know, they don’t vote,” Owens said.

League volunteer Janet Hoy explained the basics of Proposition

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