A majority of California voters want the state to shoulder more of the effort in encouraging voter participation among underrepresented groups, new polling found.
Nearly 70% of surveyed voters say California has a responsibility to expand voter outreach services, and around 64% support giving “greater funding and resources to community organizations and nonpartisan outreach groups to inform voters as to when elections are being held and their options for returning the ballot,” the survey says.
The survey, conducted by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies, found the most common reason for not voting is a “lack of information.” Three in 10 registered voters who do not vote regularly, according to the poll, say one of the reasons is because they “don’t know enough about the candidates or the issues.”
Democrats, liberal voters, women and younger voters, as well as Latinos, Asian American and Black people, express greater concerns that voters of color are “not voting at anywhere near the same rate as Whites,” according to the survey. In the last seven statewide elections, 71% of White people were regular voters, while a collective 28% of Latinos, Asians and Black individuals voted in five or more of the last seven elections.
In Orange County, the Registrar of Voters hosts various voter outreach opportunities each month during community events, including at Taste of Japan, the Irvine Korean Cultural Festival and the annual Westminster National Night Out.
Under the Voting Rights Act, election officials in areas with minorities that have “suffered a history of exclusion from the political process” are mandated to “maintain relationships with the minority communities they serve,” according to the Registrar of Voters. That means in Orange County, the registrar must support voters with limited English proficiency in Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Spanish languages.
The Registrar of Voters received some Voter’s Choice Act funds…
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