Alex Padilla U.S. Senator for California

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On the 60th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and California’s former Secretary of State, announced the introduction of two bills aimed at expanding access to the ballot box for every eligible voter. The Sustaining Our Democracy Act would provide significant federal funding to support states’ elections administration and increase civic engagement in underserved communities. The Expanding the Voluntary Opportunities for Translations in Elections (VOTE) Act would improve access to voting materials for registered voters with limited English proficiency. Representative Nikema Williams (D-Ga.-05) leads companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“60 years after civil rights activists overcame enormous barriers to pass the Voting Rights Act, there is an alarming surge of attacks on voting rights across our country,” said Senator Padilla. “We must keep up the fight to ensure that all eligible Americans are able to easily participate in our democracy and cast their ballot, regardless of the language they speak at home or where they live.”

“As we mark the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, we are unfortunately facing the same struggle for voting rights,” said Representative Williams. “The tactics of voter suppression may look different, but the intent remains the same. Expanding the Vote Act and Sustaining Our Democracy Act are major steps to ensuring everyone can practice their fundamental right to vote.”

The Sustaining Our Democracy Act would provide grant funding to: 

• Improve efficiency in the administration of federal elections;
• Secure election infrastructure, including efforts to upgrade voting equipment and voter registration systems, expand voter registration and nonpartisan voter outreach activities, secure voting locations, expand polling places and the availability of early and mail voting, and promote cybersecurity;
• Recruit, train, and retain nonpartisan election officials and poll workers;
• Protect election officials from threats made against them in the course of their work administering federal elections; and
• Increase access to voting in federal elections for underserved communities, voters with disabilities, racial and language minority groups, military and overseas voters, and voters residing on Tribal lands.

The Sustaining Our Democracy Act is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Angus King (I-Maine), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.).

The Expanding the VOTE Act would improve access to voting materials for individuals with limited proficiency in English to the nearly 68 million people in the U.S. who speak a language other than English in the home. The bill would:

• Require printed and digital voting materials (notices, registration forms, instructions, assistance, or information related to ballots) be provided both in the language of the covered minority group and in English;
• Incentivize grants from the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to states to assist with providing the voting materials in the language of the covered minority group;
• Direct the GAO, Census Bureau, Attorney General, and EAC to conduct a study on the impact of reducing the thresholds for populations of minority groups to qualify for voting materials provided in their native language.

The Expanding the VOTE Act is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).

Full text of the Sustaining Our Democracy Act is available here.

Full text of the Expanding the VOTE Act is available here.

###