Updated · NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund · Sep 19
Newsom Signs 2-Bill California Voting Rights Act as 4 States Expand Protections in 2026
Updated
Updated · NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund · Sep 19
Newsom Signs 2-Bill California Voting Rights Act as 4 States Expand Protections in 2026
3 articles · Updated · NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund · Sep 19
Summary
California enacted the CVRA of 2026, a two-bill package—SB1164 and SB1360—that bars voter suppression and vote dilution and adds preemptive tools against voting discrimination.
The new law also expands access for limited-English-proficient voters and tells courts to interpret election laws in favor of voters.
California is the fourth state this year to enact or expand a state Voting Rights Act, after Maryland in April, New Jersey in July and Delaware in August.
That brings expanded state VRA protections to voters in 11 states, after a year in which no more than one such law had ever been enacted previously.
Supporters cast the package as a response to federal voting-rights threats and the Supreme Court's Louisiana v. Callais decision, with nearly a dozen similar bills introduced in other states.