Election Day in California is just a week away, but so far most vote-by-mail voters are hanging onto their ballots. Only approximately 15 percent have sent them in statewide.
Start with Republicans, who have the two biggest primary races this year: Governor and U.S. Senator. A recent Public Policy Institute of California poll showed around one in three voters were still undecided. And in the governor’s race, the PPIC’s Mark Baldassare said polls also show voters going back and forth between Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner.
“The campaigns have gotten very negative on both sides,” said Baldassare.
Poizner ad: “Who has the courage and values to stand up to illegal immigration? Not liberal Meg Whitman.”
Whitman ad: “Steve Poizner: liberal on taxes, liberal on spending. Just another liberal Sacramento politician.”
“And when people are confronted with negative messages about candidates, they can wait and wait and wait, said Baldassare.
Democrats, meanwhile, don’t have competitive races for Governor or U.S. Senate. And as for the ever-growing number of decline-to-state voters, Baldassare says they’re deciding whether to vote in either party’s primaries, take a non-partisan ballot or just stay home.
