Nearly 25 years ago, California enacted the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) of 2001, the nation’s first State Voting Rights Act. Its impact was dramatic: since passage, more than 600 local governments have abandoned at-large elections, many in response to claims they were weakening or drowning out the voting power of communities of color.

Despite its impact, the CVRA of 2001 is narrowly focused: it only prohibits “vote dilution” – when an election system or other policies deny voters of color an equal opportunity to elect candidates of choice – in local governments with at-large election systems. Unlike the federal Voting Rights Act, the CVRA of 2001 did not protect voters from other persistent barriers to voting and political power, such as unfair district maps or lack of access to voting materials for limited English proficient voters, and it did not provide the state with a way to proactively counter voting discrimination before it can occur in jurisdictions with a history of discrimination.

Since the original CVRA was enacted, the U.S. Supreme Court has undercutfederal Voting Rights Act protections and continues to consider cases that could further undermine Californians’ ability to fight voting discrimination. To make matters worse, the federal government is mounting repeated attacks on fair and accessible elections, and voters of color face the biggest assault on voting rights since Jim Crow. 

California must act now to protect its voters and build a more fair and inclusive democracy. The California Voting Rights Act of 2026 would enshrine powerful and critical voting rights protections into state law and strengthen California’s democracy by giving voters of color and people who don’t speak English comfortably an equal opportunity to fully participate in our elections.

Source: https://naacpldf.org/case-issue/california-voting-rights-act-of-2026/