Where do the candidates stand on the issue of Protecting & Expanding Voting Rights? 

The Voting Rights Act was considered the "crown jewel" of the civil rights movement, an important tool for ensuring that communities of color were able to participate in all aspects of the U.S. political system more equally after the discriminatory era of Jim Crow. However, since its passage in 1965, the Voting Rights Act has slowly been weakened by the Supreme Court, including in an April 2026 decision. At the same time, new voting rules, at the state and federal levels, have increaingly been introduced that make it harder, instead of easier, for some Americans to vote. 

These new restrictive rules include the federal SAVE Act (and iterations like the SAVE America Act), which, if passed, could disenfranchise millions of married women and trans voters. The Save America Act was voted on and passed by the House in February 2026 and awaits a vote in the Senate.  

For the Gubernatorial Race, the following issue areas related to Protecting and Expanding Voting Rights were assessed: 

• Does the candidate support the protection and expansion of voting rights, overall? 

• Does the candidate  support legislation like the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 14) which strengthens legal protections against discriminatory voting policies?

• Does the candidate oppose  legislation like Safeguard American Voter Eligibility or “SAVE” Act (H.R. 22) and the SAVE America Act (H.R. 7296) which promote discriminatory voting policies, including levying a poll tax for certain citizens?

• Does the candidate support legislation and other measures in California that safeguard and strengthen voting rights by prohibiting voter suppression and dilution, expanding access to in-language ballots for limited-English voters, expanding access to audio-ballots and curbside voting, and/or ensuring broad, equitable participation in the democratic process?

For the Congressional Races, the following issue area related to Protecting and Expanding Voting Rights was assessed: 

• Does the candidate support the John R. Lewis: Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 14) to restore and expand voting access?

Candidates' positions on Protecting and Expanding Voting Rights were determined based publicly available information, such as press statements, voting records (in California or Federally), and campaign materials.  All candidates were given the opportunity to respond directly to a member of AAUW California's Public Policy team. Candidates' positions on Protecting and Expanding Voting Rights were then scored using the scale below, which gauges candidates' degree of alignment with AAUW California's public policy priorities and positions on Protecting and Expanding Voting Rights. If candidate responses or public records show that said candidate strongly opposes a key policy or topic within a larger issue area (e.g., does not support policy that expands civil rights for all people), we have placed them in an “oppose” position to the entire issue area (e.g., protection of civil rights). See the home page for more information about our methods. 

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