The leading candidate to become California’s next governor said Wednesday that two bills in the state Legislature are a critical bulwark to federal and local attacks on voting and must pass.

“We want democracy to thrive and that’s why we are here,” he said during a press conference near the state Capitol, before supporters of the measures lobbied legislators. “To fight for its survival, to fight for it to thrive, to fight against those who think it’s easy to use their money to undermine the vote.”

Senate Bill 1164 would prohibit local governments from having laws that suppress or dilute voting or are found to likely do so. The attorney general, as well as Californians who were affected by any alleged violations of the law, would be able to sue.

The measure would also force local governments who were found to have violated voting rights laws within 10 years to receive approval from the attorney general before making certain changes to how candidates are elected, such as through an at-large or district-based method.

State Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside, the bill’s author, said it was essential for California to expand its current laws in light of decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court that have weakened federal voting protections.

“Simply put, this bill ensures that regardless of what happens at the federal level, California voters will continue to have strong protections against vote dilution, voter suppression and other forms of voter discrimination,” she said.

Cervantes also authored Senate Bill 1360, which would require counties to provide election material in languages where there are at least 5,000 voting age citizens within its borders.

“For countless Californians, including many of my own family members, voting in their native language isn’t a luxury or a preference,” said Ilsy Pacheco, who came to the United States from El Salvador in the late 1980s before becoming a citizen a few years later. “When ballots and voting guides are only available in English, we’re not protecting voting rights. We’re restricting them.”

Both bills made it through the Senate with strong support, but have not yet cleared the Assembly. The Legislature’s year currently ends on Aug. 31.

During his short speech, Becerra did not mention President Donald Trump or his Republican gubernatorial opponent Steve Hilton by name. But the former state attorney general said the SAVE America Act, which is currently pending in Congress, and state Proposition 39, which would impose voter identification requirements in California, were more efforts by “bad actors” to get in the way of people casting ballots.

“Californians are standing up,” he said. “Because we understand, democracy lives and dies on the vote.”

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