The California Voter Experience Study:
A Statewide Survey of Voter Perspectives on Vote-By-Mail and Vote Centers
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New Research Release:
Voter Perspectives on Vote-By-Mail and Vote Centers
In 2016, nearly 58% of ballots cast in the general election were Vote-by-Mail (VBM) ballots-up from 27% in 2002. Encouraged by this rising usage, some counties are now planning to expand access to VBM balloting, and are making plans to switch to a new Vote Center Model. This new model provides for all registered voters in a participating county to be mailed a VBM ballot while, at the same time, also replacing neighborhood polling places with Voter Centers.
The CCEP's new statewide survey research examines California voters' use of VBM and their perceptions of the Vote Center Model. The findings identify some of the opportunities and challenges that may arise when switching to a Vote Center Model, particularly for electorally underrepresented populations. This research will help inform implementation strategies by election officials and community leaders as they work together in their planning for a new election model.
Highlights include:
- A majority of Californians (61%) do not like the idea of Vote Centers replacing neighborhood polling places.
- 71% of polling place voters did not like the idea of Vote Centers, compared to 53% of Vote-By-Mail voters who did not like it.
- Younger voters were more receptive to the idea of a Vote Center - 36% of voters age 18-29 were receptive to the idea of Vote Centers, versus 25% of voters age 65 older.
- 66% of California voters are willing to travel only 15 minutes or less to get to a Vote Center, regardless of their mode of transportation.
- Just over a quarter of voters who do not typically use the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to mail a VBM ballot, said they did not trust the USPS to get their ballot delivered safely, or in time to be counted.
What is the Voter's Choice Act?
In 2016, Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 450 which allows counties to choose to adopt a new voting system. Known as the Voter's Choice Act, this new model enables counties to mail every registered voter a vote-by-mail ballot which the voter can mail in, and return at a ballot drop box or a newly established Vote Center. At Vote Centers, voters can cast their ballots in person, drop off their vote-by-mail ballots, access same-day voter registration, receive replacement ballots, and access additional services. Of California's 58 counties, 14 counties are eligible to opt in during the 2018 election, while the remaining counties are eligible to adopt the model in 2020.
Click here
for the new CCEP Issue Br
ief #3: The California Voter Experience Study: A Statewide Survey of Voter Perspectives on Vote-By-Mail and Vote Centers
Click here for the new CCEP California Voter Experience Study Voter Center Research - Fact Sheet .
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Share Your Civic Engagement Research with the CCEP
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Are you working to promote inclusive civic engagement? Do you have a civic engagement success story to share? Share your story with CCEP and you could be featured in an upcoming issue of Engage! Please send your short write-up to Jennifer Puza at [email protected] for consideration. Thanks for reading and staying engaged!
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UC Davis California Civic Engagement Project
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Kim Alexander
President and Founder
California Voter Foundation
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Matt A. Barreto
Professor, Dept. of Political Science
Professor, Dept. of Chicana/o Studies
University of California, Los Angeles
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Jonathan Fox
Professor,
School of International Service
American University
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Luis R. Fraga
Arthur Foundation Endowed Professor of Transformative Latino Leadership
Professor of Political Science University of Notre Dame
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Lisa Garcia Bedolla
Chancellor's Professor of Education and Political Science
University of California, Berkeley
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Bruce Haynes
Professor, Department of Sociology University of California, Davis
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Jongho Lee
Professor
Department of Political Science
Western Illinois University
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Peter Levine
Associate Dean for Research and Lincoln Filene Professor of Citizenship & Public Affairs, Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University
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Matt Mahan
Cofounder and CEO
Brigade
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James Muldavin
Executive Director
California Center for Civic Participation and Youth Development
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Karthick Ramakrishnan
Professor of Public Policy
University of California, Riverside
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Ricardo Ramirez
Associate Professor, Dept. of Political Science
University of Notre Dame
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Jason Reece
Assistant Professor of Land Use Planning and Law
The Ohio State University
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Cruz Reynoso
Professor of Law Emeritus
University of California, Davis
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Dan Schnur
Director
American Jewish Committee
Los Angeles
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Shakari Byerly
Partner and Lead Researcher
EVITARUS
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Samuel Molina
California State Director
Mi Familia Vota
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California Civic Engagement Project
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The California Civic Engagement Project (CCEP) is housed at the UC Davis Center for Regional Change and was established to inform the public dialogue on representative governance in California. The CCEP is engaging in pioneering research to identify disparities in civic participation across place and population. It is well positioned to inform and empower a wide range of policy and organizing efforts in California to reduce disparities in state and regional patterns of well-being and opportunity. Key audiences include public officials, advocacy groups, political researchers and communities themselves.
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UC Davis Center for Regional Change
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The UC Davis Center for Regional Change (CRC). The CRC is a catalyst for innovative, collaborative, and action-oriented research. It brings together faculty and students from different disciplines, and builds bridges between university, policy, advocacy, business, philanthropy and other sectors. The CRC's goal is to support the building of healthy, equitable, prosperous, and sustainable regions in California and beyond.
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