As Threats to Elections Rise, The California Democracy Partnership Joins Senator Cervantes to Introduce The California Voting Rights Act of 2026

Sacramento, CA – Today, the California Democracy Partnership, a powerful group of labor leaders, voting rights advocates, and community organizers committed to preserving democracy in California, proudly introduced SB 1164 and SB 1360, The California Voting Rights Act of 2026 (CVRA of 2026), with Senator Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside). The legislation to protect and preserve California’s democracy comes at a time of escalating federal attacks on voting rights and local threats to election integrity. The CVRA of 2026 responds to voter concern over attacks on our democracy, with polling conducted in February of 2026 finding that two-thirds of voters support the state expanding its Voting Rights Act to guarantee that eligible voters are protected from discrimination and suppression. 

“We cannot stand by while Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress attempt to dismantle our democracy piece by piece. I’m proud to author the California Voting Rights Act of 2026 to preserve democracy in California. We must never allow the suppression or dilution of the votes of historically disenfranchised communities or discrimination against limited English proficiency voters. The CVRA of 2026 will bolster defenses against voter suppression and improve access to the ballot by ensuring more California voters can access election materials in their native languages. We have to act against the chaos emanating from the White House and protect the essential right of California voters to choose their leaders at the ballot box,” said Senator Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside).

The CVRA of 2026 will:

• Prohibit Voter Suppression: Confront threats to voter participation and access to voting opportunities that occur through discriminatory barriers to the ballot.

• Prohibit Vote Dilution: Protect against district maps or election systems that weaken or silence the voting power of communities of color. 

• Stop Voting Discrimination Before It Occurs: Require jurisdictions with a recent history of discrimination to obtain approval before making certain changes to voting practices. 

• Ensure Voters Can Directly Protect Their Rights: As voters’ ability to use the federal VRA comes under attack, ensure Californians can go to state court to enforce voting rights. 

• Require Courts to Interpret Laws in Favor of Voters: Direct courts to interpret laws and exercise discretion in favor of broad access and equal participation in the democratic process. 

• Guarantee the federal VRA’s language assistance requirements under state law: Codify Section 203 of the VRA’s requirement to provide in-language votable ballots and all other election materials to groups that meet a certain threshold in a county.

• Expand upon current Section 203 language coverage: Lower Section 203’s numerical threshold for assistance from 10K to 5K of voting age residents in a county, and expand upon Section 203’s language minority categories to include all language groups.

• Streamline and clarify the steps for language groups to receive assistance in voting: Gives groups not adequately captured in the Census the opportunity to show, through other sources, that they should qualify for language assistance. 

“As threats to free and fair elections worsen in California and nationally, working Californians are united in their call for legislative action to protect our democracy and increase election integrity – from more inclusive language resources to ensuring our democracy in California is protected and strengthened,” said Arnulfo De La Cruz, President of SEIU Local 2015 and SEIU California Executive Board Member. “Through the California Democracy Partnership, SEIU California and our 750,000 members are committed to standing with Senator Cervantes in the fight to ensure working people have our voices heard and are grateful for her partnership on the California Voting Rights Act of 2026.”

A majority of California voters, across party lines, believe that our democracy is under attack or being tested. Protecting and strengthening our democracy is not a partisan issue but an opportunity for California to lead nationally in ensuring every voter has access to the ballot box and the opportunity to have a voice in our representative democracy.

“Voting is under attack across the country by those seeking to clear the path for rolling back decades of anti‑discrimination law, to replace lawful immigration policy with brute‑force enforcement, and to recast political dissent as disloyalty and treason. And that is why the California Voting Rights Act of 2026 is essential. California must act now as the efforts to make voting harder and to limit remedies for the denial of the right to vote are only accelerating,” said Hector Villagra, Vice President of Policy Advocacy and Community Education, MALDEF – Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

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