blog post Californians Favor Higher Taxes over Higher Tuition By Lunna Lopes Jan 26, 2017 Californians would rather pay higher taxes to increase higher education funding than increase student fees, PPIC’s survey shows.
blog post California Is Different By Mark Baldassare Nov 16, 2016 The voters have spoken and the awkward result is a conflicting policy agenda for the state government and federal government.
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 Worlds Apart: California’s Partisan Divide and the 2016 Election By Mark Baldassare Jun 14, 2016 Californians’ preferences in the presidential primary provide just one example of a deep partisan fissure that has emerged in the 2016 PPIC Statewide Surveys.
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 Ideology and California’s Independent Voters By David Kordus Jan 13, 2016 Independent voters do not speak with one voice, and they are not, as a rule, more moderate than partisans, data from the PPIC Statewide Survey shows
blog post Californians’ Views of Political Outsiders By Mark Baldassare Dec 9, 2015 One early surprise in the 2016 presidential election: the strength of polling support for primary candidates who have never held elected office. What are the political ramifications of this emerging national trend for the 2016 California elections?