Voting and Civil Rights

Alex believes that our democracy is strongest when every eligible American participates. That’s why he’s spent his career fighting to expand and preserve voting rights. While serving as California’s Secretary of State, Alex implemented automatic and same-day voter registration, expanded vote-by-mail, and launched early vote centers. These key reforms led to record voter registration and participation in California and have become a model for the rest of the nation.  In the U.S. Senate, Alex is a champion for stronger voting rights, bipartisan election administration reforms, and increased funding to modernize and secure our elections.

And because Alex believes in an America made stronger by its diversity, he’s consistently fought to protect the civil rights of all Americans. In the face of an alarming rise in hate crimes over the last few years, Alex cosponsored legislation, later signed into law by President Biden, to address the rise in hate crimes and violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because Americans of every race, faith, and belief deserve to be treated with dignity.

Recent News

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and California’s former Secretary of State, and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) led 14 Senators in condemning a recent announcement from the United...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff (both D-Calif.) joined U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and U.S. Representative Jason Crow (D-Colo.-06) to introduce the No Political Enemies (NOPE) Act, legislation to help protect individuals and organizations — including nonprofits,...
Pending SCOTUS case could make it harder for millions of Americans to vote by mail WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and California’s former Secretary of State, and...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and California’s former Secretary of State, and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) led 14 Senators in condemning a recent announcement from the United...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff (both D-Calif.) joined U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and U.S. Representative Jason Crow (D-Colo.-06) to introduce the No Political Enemies (NOPE) Act, legislation to help protect individuals and organizations — including nonprofits,...
Pending SCOTUS case could make it harder for millions of Americans to vote by mail WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and California’s former Secretary of State, and...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, held the Senate floor alongside 17 of his Democratic Senate colleagues on the five-year anniversary of the January 6 Capitol insurrection, honoring the more...
On five-year anniversary of January 6 Capitol insurrection, the Senators’ bills would prevent the Trump Administration from handing out millions in taxpayer funds to Capitol rioters WASHINGTON, D.C. — On the fifth anniversary of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol,...
Amid troubling pattern of violence by ICE and CBP officers, federal law provides no statutory right to sue federal law enforcement for violating constitutional rights WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the Trump Administration conducts widespread and indiscriminate immigration enforcement operations in...
Padilla highlights new violations of federal records laws in Republican redistricting pushes, including in Indiana Indiana State Senator on White House redistricting push: “[T]he underling who reached out to me is trying to influence the election on my dime. …...
Senators to EAC Commissioner McCormick: “If you do not disavow these comments immediately, we urge you to resign your position to protect the integrity of the Commission and its important nonpartisan work.” WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, slammed the Department of Justice’s (the Department or DOJ)...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A day after Democrats’ landslide state electoral victories across the country, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and California’s former Secretary of State, and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) held...