Senate Republicans Expose Democrat Politicians’ Racist Redistricting Plan

Senate Democrats in California today voted to pass Senate Bill 1164, legislation to repeal the California Voting Rights Act (2001) and, ironically, replace it with laws to protect racial gerrymandering in California that go far beyond simply protecting voting rights.

"This is racist," stated Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones (R-San Diego). "The U.S. Supreme Court has said time and again over the decades, no more race-based redistricting, no more race-related rules in running elections, yet this bill clearly seeks to put racism back in play in California."

California does not have a problem with electing minorities of any sort at either the state or local levels, meaning this bill is wholly unnecessary.

SB 1164 also will invite "aggrieved" individuals or entities and the state's attorney general to sue cities, counties and other local government bodies over any electoral map change or voting policy that a "protected class" alleges would suppress or dilute their vote. This could end up making local redistricting choices subject to endless litigation, costing taxpayers unknown millions of dollars.

The bill's author, Sen. Sabrina Cervantes (D-Corona), has stated in committee that her bill aims to enact voting rights standards and practices that have been rejected over the years by the U.S. Supreme Court under the federal Voting Rights Act.

"This legislation is overreach in the extreme," stated Senator Steven Choi, Ph.D. (R-Irvine), vice chair of the Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee. "It will create vague, open-ended standards that would expose local governments to endless litigation from activist groups and partisan interests and give the partisan attorney general sweeping authority over local election policies."

To watch and listen to Sen. Choi's opposition to this likely unconstitutional legislation, click here.

Related Topics

• Legislation
• Voting Rights