Voting

This year offers a series of opportunities for Californians to consider their voting principles and whether they should enlarge or constrain participation.

Capitol leaders resolved several ballot measure conflicts between rival interests, but notably the billionaire tax survived. It will likely be the most expensive ballot campaign this year.

As California's notoriously slow ballot counting continues, right-wing media and some Republicans are taking their lead from President Trump and claiming voter fraud, without any evidence.

The California Voting Rights Act transformed democracy statewide. But gaps remain, and new pressures at the federal and state levels will require another generation to bolster voting rights.

Proposition 50, which Democrats framed as a referendum on the Trump administration, attracted far more support from California Latinos than Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign did just the previous year, a CalMatters data analysis has found. The swing toward Prop. 50 is yet another indication that President Donald Trump’s fragile coalition of Latino support is dissolving.

California makes it easy to vote, with mail-in ballots and registration at the DMV. An upcoming ballot measure would add new voter ID requirements compelling people to prove their citizenship before they cast a ballot.

Without an updated California Voting Rights Act, districts where voters can elect candidates from their community could come under fire and be eliminated.

Riverside County Sheriff and California governor candidate Chad Bianco focused on claims from an activist group when he kicked off a voter fraud inquiry.

A voter ID ballot initiative is gaining momentum in California as opponents aim to mount a campaign focused on President Donald Trump’s push for similar nationwide requirements.

Open source voting systems are more transparent and cheaper than the state’s current contract with Smartmatic, which is facing bribery charges.