If the U.S. Supreme Court won’t protect voting rights, California will.
That’s the message behind two bills on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.
The California Voting Rights Act of 2026 responds to what the state’s Democratic leadership views as attacks on democracy by recent high court rulings and the Trump administration.
“States are the first line of defense between voters and federal attacks on our democracy,” the bills’ author, state Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside, said in a news release.
“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.”
The bills — SB 1164 and SB 1360 — passed the state Senate and Assembly on party-line votes in the waning days of California’s legislative session, which ended Monday, Aug. 31.
White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said that, if California Democrats “really cared about the integrity of our elections,” they would require voters to show identification at the polls.
“The vast majority of Americans support enacting voter ID requirements,” Bis said via email. “President Trump is absolutely right: We fix this now, or we lose our country.”
Mandatory voter ID is the subject of a November ballot measure in California. Democratic leaders strongly oppose Proposition 39, arguing that it throws up unnecessary barriers to voting.
Building upon a 2001 voting rights law, the bills respond to recent Supreme Court decisions derided by critics as demolishing federal voter protections, especially for people of color.
In April, the court restricted the scope of the federal Voting Rights Act by striking down majority-Black congressional districts in Louisiana.
Further, President Donald Trump’s foes fear his administration will try to stymie voters from casting ballots in the midterm elections — by potentially placing immigration officers outside polls, for example. Democrats are expected to win back the House of Representatives if not the Senate in November, driving a stake through the president’s agenda and potentially exposing him to impeachment.
Cervantes’ bills seek to enshrine federal voter safeguards into state law. For example, it would allow voters to go through state courts — not just federal courts — to enforce voting rights.
The bills also would outlaw political maps “that weaken or silence the voting power of communities of voters,” the senator’s release states.
Local governments “with a recent history of engaging in voter discrimination” would need the state attorney general’s permission before changing voter policies or practices, the release added. The bills also would bolster voters’ rights to ballots and election materials in their native languages.
Bill supporters included the California Democracy Partnership, a coalition that includes civil liberties groups and environmentalists.
SB 1164 and SB 1360 “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,” Julia Gomez, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern California — a partnership member — said in Cervantes’ release.