Elections

Politics

Congress: The California races to watch

By

Ben Christopher

• October 22, 2020

Politics

California Senate: The races to watch

By

Ben Christopher

• October 22, 2020

Politics

California Assembly: The races to watch

By

Ben Christopher

• October 22, 2020

The Bail Boys bail bonds displays a "No on Prop 25" poster in downtown Los Angeles. The proposition aims to end California's current cash bail system . Photo by Tash Kimmell for CalMatters.

California Divide

Replacing cash bail: Fairer justice or robopocalypse?

Prop. 25 would use algorithms to advise judges on bail decisions. So why are some early boosters having second thoughts?

By

Nigel Duara

• October 22, 2020

one of the 1,555 structures the Glass Fire left in its path of destruction. Photo by Marco Torrez

California Wildfires

How to vote in a pandemic when you’ve lost your home in a wildfire

Lea este artículo en español. In August, as lightning strikes ignited fires around his Napa County home, Ian MacMillan escaped the flames with his wife, three kids and mother-in-law. A month later, when another wildfire roared through Northern California’s wine country, they had to flee their home again. “It sounded like a war zone,” MacMillan, […]

By

Isabella Bloom

and

Marco Torrez

• October 21, 2020

Jack Van Rooy places his mail-in ballot envelope into an official drop box in Visalia on Oct. 19, 2020. Photo by Lewis Griswold for CalMatters.

Elections

Here’s why election officials say no need to hand deliver mail ballot

California election officials assure voters their ballot is safe in drop boxes and the mail, yet some voters are hand delivering anyway.

By

Lewis Griswold

• October 21, 2020

Elections

Early voter turnout smashing California election records

More than 4.5 million Californians have already cast ballots in the 2020 general election — and there’re still 12 days to go. Roughly one-fifth of the 21.5 million ballots mailed to registered voters had been processed as of Tuesday evening, blowing away previous election totals. About three times as many California residents have participated in […]

By

Dylan Svoboda

• October 21, 2020

Education

Affirmative action has tons of endorsements — so why is Prop. 16 trailing?

Endorsements from the Democratic party, high-ranking state officials, and several media outlets hasn’t translated to a commanding lead for the Yes side in the polls. How voters feel about affirmative action in a vacuum versus in practice is part of the reason why.

By

Mikhail Zinshteyn

• October 21, 2020

Which ballots get counted first? Stacks of California mail-in ballots await counting in this November 2018 file photo by Paul Bersebach, The Orange County Register/SCNG

Elections

When will my ballot be counted? The perks of voting early

Flo Hodes is doing everything she can to avoid post-Election Day BS. A Democratic voter living in Oakland, she has watched with mounting concern President Donald Trump’s refusal to say whether he will abide by the reported election results, his continued efforts to undermine public confidence in voting by mail, and recent operational changes at […]

By

Ben Christopher

• October 21, 2020

Politics

Why do we keep voting on this? Exploring Prop. 13’s ‘Tax Revolt Family Tree’

The tax revolt started in California in 1978, but it never really ended. Four decades ago mad-as-hell voters banded together to pass Proposition 13, capping property taxes, slapping a constitutional muzzle on state government and wringing local budgets like a washcloth. The electorate’s anti-tax fever may have broken in the years since, but the legacy […]

By

Ben Christopher

• October 21, 2020