A woman donning a graduation gown protests the University of California board of regents' decision to end affirmative action. (Photo by David Butow/Corbis via Getty Images) SAN FRANCISCO - California voters have rejected an attempt to reinstate affirmative action programs in public hiring, contracting and college admissions, keeping a 1996 ban on the government granting preferential treatment based on race and gender.Supporters of Proposition 16 had hoped to overturn the ban amid a national reckoning over racism following the deaths of Black Americans and other people of color by police.They said affirmative action programs would expand opportunities for people who still face systemic racism and sexism in education and at work.