blog post Video: Managing California’s Elections through COVID and Beyond By Eric McGhee Mar 23, 2022 California Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber talks with PPIC’s Eric McGhee about key actions the state has taken during the pandemic to promote voter participation, ensure people’s safety, and increase transparency.
Statewide Survey PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Their Government By Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Rachel Lawler, Deja Thomas Mar 23, 2022 Key findings include Majorities of Californians across party lines support sanctioning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, even if sanctions lead to higher energy prices. A third of Californians—and nearly half of lower-income residents—say recent price increases have caused serious financial hardship in their households. Over half of Californians are concerned about covering their housing costs, and six in ten say homelessness is a big problem in their part of the state. Partisans are divided on the need for restrictions to control the spread of COVID-19.
blog post Video: Equity in Voter Turnout after Pandemic Election Changes By Stephanie Barton Mar 11, 2022 PPIC researcher Eric McGhee presents new research on changes California made to voting options in light of COVID-19, and an expert panel discusses the impact of these changes on the state’s electorate.
blog post How Did the Pandemic Transform California’s Safety Net? By Caroline Danielson Mar 11, 2022 Government investments and service innovations reduced the economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. The impact of these approaches can inform safety net policy beyond the pandemic.
blog post Commentary: Change Automatic Voter Registration Process to Track Equity in Elections By Mindy Romero, Mike Alvarez, Eric McGhee Mar 3, 2022 Adding a single optional question on race/ethnicity to the Department of Motor Vehicles’ automatic voter registration form could increase understanding of voter participation and strategies for engaging underrepresented groups.
Policy Brief Policy Brief: Equity in Voter Turnout after Pandemic Election Policy Changes By Eric McGhee, Jennifer Paluch, Mindy Romero, Stephanie Barton Mar 1, 2022 While California has made progress toward voting equity, reforms meant to address running an election during the pandemic may have disrupted voting habits for some communities.
Report Equity in Voter Turnout after Pandemic Election Policy Changes By Eric McGhee, Jennifer Paluch, Mindy Romero Mar 1, 2022 To maintain voting access during the pandemic, California shifted to universal vote-by-mail for the 2020 general election, while some counties consolidated their polling places. In this new report, we examine the sometimes-contradictory impact of these reforms on turnout, especially among young voters and voters of color.
blog post Testimony: Californians’ Views on Recall Reforms and the 2022 Election By Mark Baldassare Feb 1, 2022 PPIC president and CEO Mark Baldassare presents legislative testimony on how Californians view recall process changes that could appear on the 2022 ballot.
blog post 2021 Year in Review By Mark Baldassare Dec 16, 2021 The past year has been another deeply challenging one for California and the nation. As 2021 draws to a close, president and CEO Mark Baldassare reflects on the role PPIC has played in providing essential information—and fostering constructive dialogue—on the critical policy issues facing our state.
blog post Consolidating Small Water Systems Is a Springboard to Water Justice By Sarah Bardeen Nov 15, 2021 California’s State Water Board has embarked on an ambitious program to encourage struggling small water systems to join forces with larger, neighboring water systems. We spoke with two experts to find out how it’s going.