San Bernardino, CA Vote early. Stay alert. And don’t sit out November. That was the message Rep. Pete Aguilar and a coalition of Inland Empire civil rights and faith leaders carried into a packed room here Thursday, June 18, the day before Juneteenth, as they warned that the ballots of Black and brown Californians are under coordinated attack.
Aguilar, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus and is the highest-ranking California Democrat in Congress, told the crowd that House Democrats are fighting on every front to beat back efforts to restrict the vote.
“We have to fight in every arena that we’re in, in Congress and courts, and in the community,” Aguilar said.
In an interview at the event, the San Bernardino-raised congressman said his office has cataloged more than 160 ways the Trump administration and its allies could try to “subvert the will of the people,” from immigration agents appearing at polling places to new postal rules that could slow the delivery of mail ballots. California voters, he noted, return roughly 70% to 80% of their ballots by mail.
His advice to Inland Empire residents was blunt: don’t wait. “We might have to tell people we have to vote earlier than you’ve ever voted before,” he said. “Right when you get that ballot, you have to send that in.”
Aguilar said California’s defenses remain strong, pointing to Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber, Attorney General Rob Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom. If the administration tries “shenanigans” in the state, he said, those leaders “will be in federal court within an hour.”
He also called for uniformity across California’s 58 counties so every ballot is counted quickly and securely, and pledged that once Democrats retake the House majority in November, they will move to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act.
The gathering was hosted by the San Bernardino Branch NAACP, which, its leaders said, has stood up for the community since 1943, and drew partners including the West Side Action Group, LULAC and the League of Women Voters of Riverside.
NAACP branch President Chache Wright urged residents to stay vigilant against misinformation and efforts aimed at discouraging participation. “Our vote remains one of the most powerful tools that we have to shape our future,” he said. “When we vote, we honor that sacrifice of the past.”
Pastor Joshua Beckley of Ecclesia Christian Fellowship framed the moment in spiritual terms, invoking the Book of Proverbs’ call to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.” The assault on voting rights, he said, “is not just a political attack, but it’s also a spiritual attack.”
Janet Benavides, representing LULAC and the League of Women Voters of Riverside, said the stakes are deeply personal for communities of color and mixed-status families. As the daughter of immigrants, she said, she knows what is on the line.
“When people vote, democracy works,” Benavides said. “When barriers are placed in front of eligible voters, democracy is weakened.”
The afternoon closed on a lighter note. Organizers surprised Aguilar, born June 19, 1979, with a birthday cake, a Juneteenth-weekend nod to a congressman they described as a constant presence back home.
