California has made voting easier, but regular voters still skew white and old, poll finds

[RandySF]

Voting in California has never been easier.

Eligible residents can get help in 10 languages. Ballots are sent to registered voters’ homes. They have a month to drop a ballot off in boxes around their municipality. That’s on top of multiple days of voting in person and the ability to register to vote up until the last minute.

Despite all that, the people who vote most often remain older, whiter and wealthier than most Californians, according to a new survey from UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies.

Just under 4 in 10 of the state’s registered voters are what Berkeley defined as regular voters — those who have cast ballots in at least five of the last seven statewide elections. Berkeley researchers determined the frequency of voting by verifying the voter histories of more than 6,000 registered voters whom they surveyed.

That pool of regular voters is 71% white, a share that is significantly larger than the white share of registered voters. Latinos, at 14%, were underrepresented among regular voters. Those frequent voters were also disproportionately over the age of 50.



https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-08-08/despite-making-voting-easier-voters-in-california-are-whiter-and-older-new-poll-finds

[comradebillyboy]

1. Not the least bit surprising.

[Silent3]

2. It's hard to tackle the self-fulfilling belief that voting doesn't matter n/t

[msfiddlestix]

3. "From Where They Surveyed" ... UC Berkeley Survey in Contra Costa and Alameda Counties exclusively?

I'm Old, and I'm White, and have voted in nearly every election since the ripe old age of 22 in 1972.

I've always been identified as quite Liberal. Sometimes accused as being a "leftist"

In 1972, I was 22, but for the first time in the nation's history 18 year old's had the right to vote, and they just didn't turn up to vote for some inexplicable reason allowing Nixon to serve another term in office despite the atrocities of the Vietnam war, reports mob connected corruption etc etc etc.

Since then, demographics have increasingly changed to the point of great diversity in typically Blue cities, surrounding regions, but the cray cray john Birchers, White Supremacists in Orange County and other parts of SoCal, along with Christian Cult fanatics etc etc scattered throughout Central Valley's and large swaths of inland regions continue to thrive.

One would reasonably think I feel, at least 90 percent of younger voters would turn out the vote, given the stakes for their futures.

I was stunned in 1972 when a number of friends didn't bother to vote, and continue to be perplexed.