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. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and California’s former Secretary of State, and Representative Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.-17) joined election security advocates to introduce bicameral legislation to protect voters...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and California’s former Secretary of State, called on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division to investigate the recent targeted raids of...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and California’s former Secretary of State, joined Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Chair of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration with oversight over federal elections, Peter...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and California’s former Secretary of State, and Representative Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.-17) joined election security advocates to introduce bicameral legislation to protect voters...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and California’s former Secretary of State, called on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division to investigate the recent targeted raids of...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and California’s former Secretary of State, joined Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Chair of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration with oversight over federal elections, Peter...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) reintroduced the George Floyd...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and 32 of his Democratic Senate colleagues in introducing the No Kings Act, which would reaffirm that...
Padilla to travel with President Biden to Texas for his remarks on Supreme Court reform proposal AUSTIN, T.X. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement on President Biden’s three proposed reforms to restore trust...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) joined U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) as well as Representatives Barbara Lee (D-Calif.-12) and Judy Chu (D-Calif.-28), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC),...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and California’s former Secretary of State, and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) introduced legislation to address the significant impact that election-related disinformation has on communities...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Chair of the Senate...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), as well as Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.-06) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.-12), applauded the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) efforts...