Cervantes’ California Voting Rights Act of 2026 Heads to Governor’s Desk

(SACRAMENTO) – The California Voting Rights Act of 2026 (CVRA 2026), comprised of Senate Bills 1164 and 1360 authored by Senator Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside), heads to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk after being approved by both the Assembly and Senate. CVRA 2026 updates the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 to provide increased protections against vote dilution, voter suppression, and other forms of voter discrimination that were once prohibited by Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 before the horrific Louisiana v. Callais decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, and expands language access assistance to more limited English proficiency (LEP) voters.

“States are the first line of defense between voters and federal attacks on our democracy,” said Senator Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside), the author of the California Voting Rights Act of 2026. “California voters want us to defend their voices and their ability to cast their ballots freely and fairly. We need to make sure that voting rights are protected in the Golden State, no matter what kind of chaos is emanating from Washington, D.C. I want to thank Senate President pro Tempore Monique Limón, Speaker Robert Rivas, and our colleagues in both the Senate and Assembly for working with me to send the California Voting Rights Act of 2026 to Governor Newsom.”

The California Democracy Partnership, the sponsor of CVRA 2026, is a growing group of civil justice, voting rights, and labor organizations, which includes SEIU California, MALDEF, ACLU, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the League of Women Voters, and Asian Law Caucus; the Partnership praised the Legislature for recognizing the need for the CVRA 2026 and sending the bill package to the Governor.

“Generations before us fought to expand the freedom to vote, and now it is our responsibility to carry that work forward. The CVRA of 2026 will strengthen voters’ ability to participate in our democracy and defend their rights, from expanding access to in-language voting materials to stronger protections against voting discrimination. We thank the State Legislature, which voted to pass the CVRA of 2026, and call on Governor Newsom to stand with voters and sign these bills into law,” said Julia Gomez, Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU of Southern California.

The California Voting Rights Act of 2026 will:

Prohibit Vote Dilution: Protect against electoral systems or district maps that weaken or silence the voting power of communities of voters.
Prohibit Voter Suppression: Confront threats to voter participation and access to voting opportunities that occur through discriminatory barriers to the ballot.
Stop Voting Discrimination Before It Occurs: Require jurisdictions with a recent history of engaging in voter discrimination to obtain approval from the California Attorney General before making certain changes to their voting policies or practices.
Ensure Voters Can Directly Protect Their Rights: As voters’ ability to use the federal Voting Rights Act comes under attack, CVRA 2026 will ensure individual California voters can go to state court to enforce voting rights.
Guarantee the Federal VRA’s Language Assistance Requirements Under State Law: Codify the language access assistance services currently required by Section 203 of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, which is set to expire in 2032, in state law.
Expand Upon Existing Section 203 Language Coverage: Expand language assistance service coverage for LEP voters beyond what is currently required by Section 203 to include additional language groups.
Streamline and Clarify the Steps for Language Groups to Receive Assistance in Voting: Give groups not adequately captured in the Census the opportunity to show, through other sources, that they should qualify for language access assistance.

Read more about Senate Bills 1164 and 1360. Both bills now move to the Governor’s desk, where he has until September 30to sign them into law or return the bills without his signature.

# # #

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.