The California legislative bill that sought diversity but was kind of racist | Opinion

Even when the author has good intentions, legislative bills openly seeking to have fewer white people elected to office are kinda racist.

That’s why assemblymembers were correct to vote down legislation earlier this month based on a faulty premise that skin color is the supreme trait for representation on elected boards.

Assembly Bill 1493, authored by Assemblymember Anamarie Ávila Farías, D-Concord, ostensibly sought to revise the rules governing special elections in school districts and community college districts. Her bill was pitched as a way to promote democracy by merging these elections with primary and general elections, when turnout is usually higher and more diverse. But instead of focusing on why so many people don’t vote, Ávila Farías honed in on the existence of too many white people holding office.

“Right now, in the state of California, between Latino and (Asian Pacific Islander) and Black (people) we are well over 60% of the student body, but if ... our school boards are not reflective of the demographics of our children,” Ávila Farías said.

Too many white people?

Of course, I take issue with Ávila Farías’ premise. Governing philosophy and platform should be what matter most in elections, but far too many activists push a narrative that elected officials must “look like California,” or something along those lines.

Ávila Farías added that special elections, which have “lower and underrepresented turnout” than primaries and generals, produce “results that often do not reflect the true will of the larger electorate,” which is another faulty premise.

“Larger electorate” is a meaningless term. In elections, what matters is who voted and who voted by not voting. Unless there’s some kind of fraud, election results are inherently the will of the voters.

Many people don’t vote, especially in special elections, which Ávila Farías is correct to highlight as an area of concern. But why do so many people rarely or never vote?

The Bee reported in 2023 that “three in ten infrequent voters said it’s because they don’t know enough about the candidates or issues. A quarter said it’s because they believe ‘special interests and big money are controlling things’ or that their vote doesn’t matter.”

Too few good candidates

EdSource went even further last year by reporting that millions of people lack a meaningful choice in school board elections where there is either no candidate or only one candidate.

People might have very good reasons not to vote, and it is their right. Ávila Farías cited an example of a special election in her area where turnout was very low as evidence of people being “excluded.”

But as Assemblymember Josh Hoover, a Republican from Folsom, pointed out: “No one was excluded from the election; they chose not to vote.”

In California, citizens of voting age — the only requirements to register to vote in most places, though there are instances where some non-citizens are also allowed to vote — have ample opportunity to become voters and have plenty of time and ways to return ballots. No one is excluded.

The absurdity of racial politics

The argument by Ávila Farías is based on an absurd belief that voters can’t be truly represented unless they share some immutable features like race with the electorate, but this falls apart with the most minimal scrutiny.

In 2008, 43% of the nearly 70 million people who voted for Barack Obama for president were white. Assuming they weren’t seriously confused about either their race or his race, they were fine with him as their representative. The same is true in South Carolina, where Sen. Tim Scott, who is Black, has been reelected in a predominantly white state for years now.

That’s anecdotal evidence, but you could find countless examples. Why? Because many people consider other factors — like character, ideology and name — while things like race take a back seat.

Trying to motivate more people of all types to vote is a worthy endeavor, but focusing on the immutable features of elected officials is not. It’s not even practical. If we really did everything to ensure that elected officials “looked like California,” what would we do when certain groups overperform?

Twisting representation to fit a false narrative

The California Legislative Black Caucus has 12 members, which is 10% of the Legislature. But Black Californians make up only 6.4% of the population. The California Legislative Jewish Caucus is 15% of the legislature, but only 3% of California’s population.

If the aim is to have exact representation, then wouldn’t we have to treat legislative bodies like our retirement portfolios and reallocate periodically to get the proportions right?

So who would Ávila Farías send home?

By contrast, the California Latino Legislative Caucus underperforms demography, holding only 29% of the seats in the Legislature, compared to 40% of the population. Of course, the Latino caucus would be much closer to 40% if it admitted Republican Latino lawmakers, but the fact that they are barred from joining only strengthens the case that most people think of race as a secondary factor in representation.

Cynics might say: “Easy for you to say, you’re white.” My response: I am a conservative in California — I’m constantly underrepresented.

How about inspiring voters?

Ávila Farías’ bill died its rightful death on Jan. 7 in the Assembly Education Committee, with only two Democrats voting for the bill. For what it’s worth, I don’t think she is racist. I think she just wants to see more people buy into our political system. While I am not too concerned with people exercising their right not to vote, I think getting more people to participate in elections is a good thing.

But eliminating special elections or some other gimmick is not the solution; motivating voters is. If low information is a problem, provide more information. If lack of candidates is a problem, encourage good people to run. Push for greater accountability among elected officials if you’re worried about cynicism in politics.

Let’s inspire voters with better politics and not trick them with voting schemes based in racist ideas.

Matt Fleming is an opinion writer living in Placer County. You can follow him on X @Flemingwords or connect via email: flemingwords@gmail.com

This story was originally published January 26, 2026 at 5:00 AM.