Report Assessing California’s Redistricting Commission: Effects on Partisan Fairness and Competitiveness By Eric McGhee Mar 5, 2018 The creation of the Citizen Redistricting Commission (CRC) in 2008 was a radical departure from California’s previous redistricting process, which had been directed by the legislature with little public input and no official rationale. Many hoped that, in addition to meeting legally mandated representational and geographic goals, the CRC would produce electoral maps that were fair to the two major parties and more competitive than the maps that had been drawn by the legislature.
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 Video: Broadening California’s Exclusive Electorate By Linda Strean Apr 1, 2016 The divide between voters and nonvoters has particular significance in California, where voters make important policy decisions through the initiative process—and at a time when economic inequality is a major theme, Mark Baldassare told a Sacramento audience.
blog post Primary Takeaways and a Preview of the Fall Election By Mark Baldassare Jul 15, 2022 The final results from California’s June primary provide insights into the state of our state’s democracy and shed light on the political context for the November general election.
blog post Waning Confidence in the Electoral Process By Rachel Lawler Oct 15, 2019 As California heads into an especially important election year, residents’ confidence in the state’s electoral system has declined substantially from prior years.
blog post Redistricting Injects Some Uncertainty into the 2022 Elections By Eric McGhee Apr 7, 2022 While new political districts shake things up for incumbents, competitiveness in state assembly districts has declined amid an increasing focus on congressional contests.
Report California’s Political Geography 2020 By Eric McGhee Feb 24, 2020 California still leans Democratic overall, but independents are leaning Republican in many areas of the state. A closer look suggests that registering all eligible residents to vote could moderate more partisan places. Views on specific issues also follow their own geographic patterns.
Fact Sheet California Voter and Party Profiles By Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Lauren Mora, Deja Thomas Aug 28, 2024 Nearly half of California’s registered voters are Democrats, and independent registration has declined over the past few years. Six in ten Republican likely voters are older adults; a majority of Democrats are women; and half of independents are college graduates.
