Democracy in jeopardy, California needs new voting protections, voting shows

SACRAMENTO – A strong majority of California voters believe that American democracy is under attack and, after US Supreme Court decisions that reduce federal protections, support the passage of a new state Voting Rights Act to prevent discrimination and efforts to suppress the ability to vote, a new poll has shown.

The poll showed a sharp partisan divide on expanding voting rights protections, with Democrats and independents overwhelmingly in favor and most Republicans opposed. Fears that American democracy may be under attack, or at least “undermined,” are shared across political spectrums, according to a new poll released Thursday by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies.

“I think it suggests that California voters, especially Democrats and independents, are very concerned about what they see happening in Washington, both the court decisions and the Trump administration,” said Eric Schickler, the center’s co-director. “They see it as a kind of threat to basic American values.”

Those concerns come after years of unsubstantiated claims by President Trump that the 2020 election was stolen from him, and Republican-led efforts to limit the use of mail-in ballots and impose new requirements for voters to show identification and proof of citizenship.

Trump earlier this week signed an executive order to impose new federal controls on mail-in voting in states like California, a move Democrats have called unconstitutional and vowed to challenge it in court.

Schickler said Republican concerns about the fate of American democracy may stem from allegations of voter fraud by Trump and his supporters, including unfounded claims that large numbers of undocumented immigrants are trying to vote.

The poll found that 67% of California voters believe that American democracy is under attack, including 84% of Democrats, 40% of Republicans and 64% of voters who register as “no party” or with other political parties. About an equal number of Republicans, 38%, believe democracy is “tested” but not under attack, compared to 13% of Democrats and 26% of independents. The rest of those interviewed said that American democracy is not in danger.

The partisan divide was even more evident when voters were asked if they wanted California to enact its own Voting Rights Act after Supreme Court decisions that limited the state’s protections against discrimination and unequal access to the ballot, the poll found.

Overall, 66% of registered voters in California support adopting new state voter protections, and 88% of Democrats support the new laws compared to 25% of Republicans and 66% of independent or other party voters. Support for the new state laws was strongest among Black voters — 72% — who have historically been the targets of discriminatory voting policies, including Jim Crow-era laws like literacy tests and poll taxes.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 ended those policies, ensuring that the right to vote could not be denied on the basis of race. This law also ensured that black Americans and other communities of color had the opportunity to participate in all parts of the political system and elect the leaders of their choice, influencing how political districts were drawn. The act was reauthorized by Congress in 2006 with a bipartisan majority.

“Now it’s gotten to the point where the president is trying to convince people that somehow equal voting rights are bad, because, in his words, ‘The wrong people vote right,'” said Matt Barreto, faculty director of the UCLA Voting Rights Project, referring to Trump. “You have a lot of people, a very large percentage of Californians, who want the state to do more to protect voting rights, I think, because of the bad weather right now, with the president constantly going after states to vote by mail and trying to get their voters and these other types of things.”

Recent decisions by the conservative-leaning Supreme Court have also stripped federal protections under the Voting Rights Act. The pending case, Louisiana vs. Callais, which involves the drawing of congressional districts, could destroy some of the remaining defenses, Barreto said.

“I think people should be very alarmed that this court has not shown much support for voting rights, which is why California had the opportunity to pass its own state laws,” he said.

Among the laws California legislators could adopt, Barreto said, would be to protect early voting, prevent onerous requirements for voters to prove citizenship and provide identification, and ensure that congressional and other political districts are created to allow minority groups to elect their preferred representatives.

The Berkeley poll also found widespread support among California voters for requiring that the top three proponents and opponents of ballot measures be listed in official voting guidelines. A majority of Californians also supported expanded access to translation and interpreting assistance to people who make up at least 5% or 5,000 voters in the state.

The Berkeley IGS poll surveyed 5,109 California voters who registered online in English and Spanish from March 9 to 15. The results are estimated to have a margin of error of 2.5 percent in either direction for the sample as a whole, and for large numbers of subgroups.

Funding for the survey was provided to IGS by Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, a private foundation based in San Francisco that aims to increase public participation and improve the country’s democratic processes.