California Voting Rights Act

The California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) is a law designed to protect voters from discriminatory electoral practices. It limits the use of at-large voting systems—where officials are elected by the entire community—that can dilute the voting power of minority groups. If a community's at-large system prevents a protected group from electing representatives of their choice, they can challenge it under the CVRA. The law encourages jurisdictions to adopt district-based voting (electing officials from smaller geographic areas) to ensure fair representation and prevent racial or language-based discrimination in elections.