A new UC San Diego survey published this week looks at the factors that will shape California's November election. The survey titled, "Looking Ahead to November: How Will Reproductive Rights, Crime Rates and Top Two Dynamics Shape California’s General Election?," includes the responses of 2,979 likely California voters. It was conducted from June 11 through 17, 2022.
Thad Kousser, co-director of the Yankelohvich Center for Social Science Research at UC San Diego, joined Midday Edition Wednesday to talk more about the survey's findings.
"If we have a low-turnout November election, just like we had a fairly low-turnout primary in June, we're going to have an electorate skew towards older voters, towards more affluent voters, and it will be ... less reflective of the racial and ethnic diversity of California," Kousser said.
He also noted how ballot propositions could effect voter turnout and engagement, especially when it comes to efforts to codify reproductive rights in California's state constitution, which may be on the ballot in November.
"I think Democrats are rightly recognizing that it matters not just with what everything that they're doing in Sacramento to protect reproductive rights for Californians — and people traveling from other states — but they also want this to be a signature issue that voters think about when they vote in November, rather than inflation, rather than gas prices," Kousser said.
