Six years after California passed a law requiring the secretary of state to form an advisory committee to help improve voting access for Native Americans, the committee still has not been formed, the secretary of state’s office confirmed to CalMatters/ICT.
Advocates from the California Native Vote Project said they received some reports of problems at polling sites on Election Day, and say the underlying barriers the committee was meant to address, including distant polling places and unreliable mail service, remain.
A spokesperson for Secretary of State Shirley Weber who declined to provide their name said in an email that the office plans to begin recruiting members “after the November election.” “It’s really frustrating,” said Calvin Hedrick, director of policy for the project, an advocacy group promoting voting rights for Native American peoples in California. “It’s a bummer to have to fight for something again after it was already promised by statute.”
A promise on paper The law, Assembly Bill 2314, which called for a Native American Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee, was authored by Assemblymember James Ramos and sponsored by then-Secretary of State Alex Padilla. “California’s nearly three-quarters of a million Native Americans deserve to have their voices heard in our democracy,” Padilla said in an August 2020 statement released by Ramos’ office.
Anthony Roberts, Chairman of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, which supports the law, said in 2020 that a lack of polling places and the rejection of certain types of identification remained obstacles. “Until those obstacles are addressed, California’s Native Americans remain at risk of being excluded, with no voice in government, the education of their children and other vital services.”
The law required the committee to set guidelines for reaching Native American voters, recommend public service announcements at least 45 days before elections, suggest ways to improve Native American poll worker recruitment, and advise on language assistance and plain-language materials. But the committee’s recommendations would be nonbinding. The secretary of state was required only to consider them.
The law set no deadline for forming the committee, provided no funding and did not require input from tribal governments or groups. Members, who are to be chosen by the secretary of state, would have to have experience with voting rights or be county elections officials. The law also set no meeting schedule.
By contrast, the state’s separate Language Accessibility Advisory Committee, which is supposed to ensure voters can understand the voting process, must meet at least four times a year.
“Lacking those things, it’s pretty clear it’s just going to end up in the dustbin,” said Allison Neswood, senior staff attorney for the Native American Rights Fund, an advocacy group promoting the interests of Indigenous communities. Neswood is Diné.
Ramos, who is Serrano/Cahuilla and a lifelong resident of the San Manuel Indian Reservation, was not available after multiple requests from CalMatters/ICT. “It’s been difficult finding a time, but still working on it,” wrote a spokeswoman in his office, in October.
A Democrat from San Bernardino, he is the first and only Native American from a California tribe elected to the Legislature.
The state’s response A spokesperson for Weber acknowledged the committee does not exist, in response to questions from CalMatters/ICT in October. The office said it has been “working closely with Native American advocates to review our committee-related documents” and is planning to recruit members. The secretary of state’s office did not respond to additional questions about why it had not done anything for six years, who it had contacted for recruitment, whether it had requested any funding and whether it had any documents available for
