Read plainly, voting "yes" on Proposition 40 means the state Senate lines drawn by the voter-approved independent Citizens Redistricting Commission will remain in place.

But more broadly, Proposition 40 upholds the will of the people, ratifying what we have already voted to say three times before: citizens should be in charge of choosing their elected officials, not the other way around.

Passing Proposition 40 means every vote cast in California is important.

Not too long ago, this wasn't the case. Until just four years ago, politicians were in charge of drawing their own districts. Every 10 years, they gathered in Sacramento to negotiate over district lines on a map. They bartered and made back-room deals, shifting boundaries of their legislative districts in ways that made little sense to voters and their communities but had tremendous benefits for the political parties. Essentially, the politicians chose which Californians they would represent.

This system resulted in a number of districts guaranteed to Democrats and a number guaranteed to Republicans -- with no competition at all. The statistics were staggering: fewer than 1 percent

of legislative seats up for grabs ever changed hands from one party to the other. It happened only four times out of 459 contests in three election cycles leading up to 2008.

That's when voters finally spoke up and began putting in place essential redistricting reforms. In 2008 Californians approved the independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, which took the process of drawing political lines for state representatives away from politicians and put it in the hands of a diverse group of Californians, who followed strict nonpartisan rules.

This rubbed politicians the wrong way. They immediately began working to protect their status quo by attempting to pass Proposition 27 in 2010, which would have overturned the Redistricting Commission. Fortunately, voters beat back this attempt and also extended the commission's charge to draw lines for congressional districts.

That didn't stop some politicians from trying again. This year, in an attempt to win back their noncompetitive district boundaries, they placed Proposition 40 on the ballot, asking voters to either accept or reject the independent redistricting commission's work with regard to our state's 40 Senate districts.

Sure, those politicians have since abandoned their effort and say they will not campaign against Proposition 40. However, because it was put on the ballot as a "referendum," not an "initiative," it is worded in such a way that a "yes" vote will uphold the work of the voter-approved Citizens Redistricting Commission (no change) and a "no" vote will invalidate that work (dramatic change).

Voters could understandably be confused and risk overturning their previous votes in support of the independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. Voting no -- as Californians often do when uncertain about a ballot proposition -- would give politicians an opportunity to overturn the fair districts drawn by the commission, costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process.

It is critical to our democracy that Californians pay attention to Proposition 40 and vote "yes." Passing Proposition 40 will uphold the will of the people and hold politicians accountable.