SAN FRANCISCO – A California with vastly different political preferences and demographics is voting on whether to allow affirmative action in public hiring, contracting and college admissions — nearly a quarter century after voters outlawed programs that give preference based on race and gender.
If approved, Proposition 16 would repeal a 1996 initiative that made it unlawful for California's state and local governments to discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to people based on race, ethnicity, national origin or sex.
Then-Gov. Pete Wilson, a Republican, championed the measure as part of his conservative bid for the presidency.The California of 2020 is less Republican and more diverse than it was 24 years ago, with Latinos.