The California Voting Rights Act: How SB 976 Reshaped Local Elections

In the early 2000s, the California community of color that was being silenced by an at-large election was, in most cases, a community that the federal Voting Rights Act did not protect. The federal law protected the communities that had been silenced by the discriminatory systems in 1965. The federal law did not protect the communities that had been silenced by the at-large elections that had replaced the discriminatory systems after 1965. The replacement was, in the words of the civil rights advocates, the predictable outcome of a state-tribal relationship that did not have the statutory tools to require the local jurisdictions to abandon the at-large workaround. The community was, in plain language, being locked out of the representation. The lockout was, in the early 2000s, a documented problem. The problem was, in the words of the civil rights advocates, the predictable outcome of a civil rights framework that did not have the statutory tools to address the at-large workaround. Senator Richard G. Polanco, in his last term in the Senate, wrote a law that gave the framework the tools. The law was Senate Bill 976, the California Voting Rights Act, and it was, by any measure, the first state law in the country to give communities a legal tool against the at-large workaround.

The Problem

The federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 had been the foundation of the American voting rights framework for more than three decades. The Act had, by 2002, prohibited the discriminatory voting practices that had been used to silence the communities of color in the South. The Act had, however, not addressed the workaround that the local jurisdictions had developed after 1965. The workaround was the at-large election. The at-large election allowed the jurisdictions to elect all of the council members from the entire jurisdiction, which had the effect of diluting the voting power of the communities of color. The dilution was, in the early 2000s, a documented problem. The problem was, in the words of the civil rights advocates, the predictable outcome of a federal framework that had not been updated to address the at-large workaround. The state framework had not, in 2002, addressed the workaround. The communities of color were, in plain language, being locked out of the representation by the workaround.

What Polanco Did

SB 976 created a state-level cause of action that allowed a community of color to challenge an at-large election in a California local jurisdiction. The law shifted the burden of proof to the jurisdiction, requiring the jurisdiction to demonstrate that the at-large election did not have a discriminatory effect on the community of color. The law also provided for the recovery of the attorney’s fees by the community that prevailed in the challenge. The law was, in 2002, the first state law in the country to provide this kind of cause of action. The law was, in the words of the legislative analysis, the statutory successor of the federal Voting Rights Act, adapted to the California context.

The community in California that, in 2002, was being silenced by an at-large election was, in most cases, a community that the federal Voting Rights Act did not protect. The federal law protected the communities that had been silenced in 1965. The federal law did not protect the communities that had been silenced by the at-large elections that had replaced the discriminatory systems after 1965. The replacement was, in plain language, a workaround. SB 976 wrote the California Voting Rights Act into law. The law was, by any measure, the first state law in the country to give communities a legal tool against the at-large workaround.

The Legacy

SB 976 has, since 2002, been the foundation of the California Voting Rights Act. The Act has, since 2002, been the model for similar state laws in other states. The Act has, since 2002, given the California communities of color the legal tool to challenge the at-large elections. The Act has, since 2002, resulted in the transition of more than 500 California local jurisdictions to by-district elections. The Act has, since 2002, given more than 8 million California voters the local representation. The California Voting Rights Act is the cleanest record of the early 2000s California voting rights framework, and the cleanest record of the statutory successor of the federal Voting Rights Act.