Report What to Expect from California’s New Motor Voter Law By Eric McGhee, Mindy Romero Jun 15, 2016 In 2015, California passed major legislation to increase the state’s voter rolls by simplifying the voter registration process. Under the New Motor Voter Act, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will electronically transmit information about DMV customers who are eligible to vote to the California Secretary of State, which will add eligible customers to the voter rolls unless they opt out. We find that this law has the potential to significantly alter the demographic composition of the California electorate, making the population of registered voters more representative of the state as a whole. Our estimates also suggest that the new system may rapidly expand the voter rolls, adding more than 2 million new registrants in the first year. Key implementation issues will decide the impact of the New Motor Voter Act. To ensure the law’s success, the state should require DMV customers to attest to their eligibility to vote as a precondition for completing their transaction. It will also be necessary to mobilize new registrants aggressively if they are to become new voters.
blog post A Turnaround for Voter Turnout? By Eric McGhee Jun 13, 2016 The recent primary offered signs of improvement for California’s abysmally low voter turnout.
blog post Video: Expanding the California Electorate By Linda Strean May 19, 2016 How can the state expand its electorate? Leaders and experts told a Los Angeles audience that the mechanics of voting can be improved and outreach to underrepresented groups is essential.
blog post Testimony: California’s Exclusive Electorate & the 2016 Election By Mark Baldassare May 13, 2016 As California's population continues to expand and change, the voting rolls are not keeping pace, and the state’s voters remain unrepresentative of its population.
blog post Voter Registration: Not Quite Automatic Yet By Eric McGhee Nov 11, 2015 A new law has the potential to register millions more Californians to vote—depending on how it is implemented.
blog post Inspiring Civic Engagement By Linda Strean Sep 24, 2015 What can be done to increase participation in elections and engage residents more broadly in all aspects of civic life? Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye, California’s chief justice, and Alex Padilla, California secretary of state, offered their responses.
Fact Sheet Voter Participation in California By Mark Baldassare, Lunna Lopes, Dean Bonner, David Kordus Sep 9, 2015
blog post Testimony: Measuring Poverty By Sarah Bohn Jul 14, 2015 New and more comprehensive measures update a definition of poverty that is now more than 50 years old.
