As Trump Threatens to Further Erode our Democracy, CA has an Opportunity to Strengthen Access to Free and Fair Elections
Sacramento, CA – The California Democracy Partnership, a powerful group of labor leaders, voting rights advocates, and community organizers committed to protecting and strengthening our democracy in California, today decried President Trump’s intentional lies and attacks on our democracy in his address to the nation. The Partnership pledges to fight to protect and strengthen California’s democracy as a defense of our constitutional right to free and fair elections. The group supports funding to increase voter information ahead of elections and to pass the CVRA of 2026 – legislation to strengthen the state’s landmark Voting Rights Act and increase access to the ballot box for all eligible California voters.
The California Democracy Partnership released the following statement from anchor member Dr. Matt A. Barreto, Faculty Director of the UCLA Voting Rights Project:
"Tonight, Donald Trump once again stood before our nation and deliberately spread lies designed to suppress voter turnout and corrode the very foundation of our democracy. Any assertion that ineligible voters were able to cast votes in California is categorically false. Trump’s previous attempts at this same claim resulted in court decisions in favor of voters, finding Trump’s Administration to be incorrectly interpreting out of date data.
“In addition to Trump’s tax-payer-funded coordinated disinformation campaign, he has been weaponizing the FBI and federal prosecutors to attack state after state, including California. These baseless attacks attempt to devastate communities of color and limited-English speaking citizen voters – populations Trump and his allies have systematically and repeatedly targeted.
"We are proud that our state lawmakers are prepared to strike back. By passing the California Voting Rights Act of 2026, which will strengthen our landmark 2002 California Voting Rights Act, they can ensure even greater access to the ballot box for voters in our state. And together with Governor Newsom, Legislative leaders invested over $40 million toward combatting disinformation. We are committed to ensuring this funding will be directed toward proven, community-led solutions and will continue to advocate for additional funding to support campaigns led by trusted messengers who have earned the confidence of their neighbors and can cut through the noise with fact based information.
"Our coalition of the most powerful labor leaders, voting rights advocates, and community organizers in the state will not yield. We will not tolerate federal assault on our voters. We will not accept disenfranchisement. We will fight with everything we have to ensure that every eligible voter's voice is heard at the ballot box."
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