Securing Fair Representation in California

The California Voting Rights Act of 2001 (“CVRA” or “Act”) is one of the state’s most significant civil rights laws and a powerful tool to combat vote dilution. Authored by then-Senator Richard Polanco and inspired by the vision of voting rights giant Joaquin G. Avila, the CVRA was enacted in 2002 to address the persistent harms of dilutive at-large election systems in California—systems that have long silenced the voices of political and racial minorities and blocked communities from translating political organizing into electoral victories.

Over the past two decades, the CVRA has compelled hundreds of jurisdictions to adopt district-based elections, which has expanded opportunities for participation, increased minority representation, and improved government responsiveness. Yet despite this progress, new challenges have emerged. Some jurisdictions conduct transitions with little public input or oversight, resulting in district maps that prioritize incumbents and special interests over the fair representation of a jurisdiction’s diverse communities. And, because the CVRA only applies to at-large elections, communities have limited tools to prevent line-drawers from adopting maps that are themselves dilutive. Meanwhile, special interests that benefited from unfair at-large systems have adapted by shifting their strategies and injecting more money into local district elections.

These challenges are compounded by the weakening of federal protections. In recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court has dealt major blows to the federal Voting Rights Act (“VRA”), and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held in a 2023 decision that private parties, including voters, can no longer bring lawsuits under Section 2 of the VRA. As federal safeguards continue to erode, California must take proactive steps to defend and expand voting rights at home.

Other states have already responded: at least seven have enacted state-level voting rights acts, using the CVRA as a model but going even further in the protections they offer. Many more are considering similar bills. California must also act—by defending the CVRA, addressing existing gaps in the law, and expanding state voting rights protections within the CVRA and through broader reforms. The upcoming report outlines a roadmap for achieving these goals through targeted policies grounded in data, legal analysis, and community experience.