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SourceLineThe Black Civic Data Platform

Our mission is to make sure Black communities are not simply informed about the decisions shaping our future, but equipped to help make those decisions. An informed community is a powerful community.

State · Congress and state, with local votes in 3 places

California

Who represents California in Congress and how to reach them, the Black community by the numbers, the national stories told with California’s own figures, and what Black newspapers here are reporting. Each figure names its official source.

Look up an address in CaliforniaWhat each level shows

Coming to your state

What would Proposition 39 change about how you vote?

On November 3, California voters decide Proposition 39, a constitutional amendment placed by petition. Voters would show government issued ID at the polls, mail voters would write the last four digits of an ID number on the envelope or the ballot is not counted, and officials would verify that every registered voter is a citizen. The state's estimate of the cost is tens of millions to low hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Supporters, led by the California Republican Party, say it protects trust in elections; opponents, including the ACLU, Common Cause and the League of Women Voters, say fraud is rare and the rule falls hardest on voters of color and low income voters. (CalMatters voter guide)

Your numbers

About 159,000 Black Californians said they were registered but did not vote in 2024, compared with about 76,000 in 2020. (Census Bureau survey estimate)

Who pays

Yes, state and county tax dollars, an estimated tens of millions to low hundreds of millions a year. SourceLine takes no side.

Who decides

California voters on November 3.

What is coming to California

When SourceLine is complete here, you will see how each of your state legislators voted on election rules, at your address.

Read the CalMatters guide · The story and its reporting belong to the outlet that published it. Survey figures are estimates with wider ranges in smaller states.

Loading California.

About these figures

Every figure on this page shows the year it describes. Public agencies release their numbers on their own schedules, often a year or more after the work of counting is done. The Census Bureau, for example, publishes its five year community survey each December, and the national reading test is given every two years. That is why some figures are not from this year. SourceLine updates each one as soon as the agency publishes it.

For some counties and small towns, SourceLine has not found meeting records online. Where it has not, we add them as they become available. A page that says SourceLine hasn’t updated a record yet means exactly that.