Registering is only the first step, now go vote today
Secretary of State Alex Padilla last week announced that a higher percentage of eligible Californians are registered to vote this year than for any gubernatorial election since 1950.
While the 78 percent registration rate is good news, it’s not reason for celebration. Registering to vote is the first step. But, as we’ve seen in recent years, casting a ballot has proven to be a much bigger hurdle.
Today we find out if the Trump effect and key competitive House elections in the Golden State will prompt more people to take the second step. Let’s hope so, for this state needs more engaged and informed voters — of all political persuasions.
The last time Californians picked a governor, which they always do midway through the presidential term, turnout was abysmal. In 2014, only 31 percent of eligible residents cast ballots. It was the poorest showing in California’s recorded history, dating back to 1910.
The problem was not voter registration. Some 73 percent of eligible Californians were registered in 2014, placing it in the top half historically of the state’s gubernatorial elections. (The historic range has been from 63 percent to 90 percent.) The problem was that for the first time in a midterm election, less than half of those who were registered voted.
To be sure, in California, 2014 wasn’t the most exciting election. Jerry Brown was coasting to another term. Probably few today even remember his Republican opponent. (*Read to the end for the answer.)
This year’s gubernatorial election results are expected to be closer than Brown’s 20-percentage-point blowout four years ago, but the race is not likely to be a major driving force in turnout. The key difference is the president, who is not even on the ballot. His presidency has driven home the importance of voting and of controlling Congress. Both parties are trying to use Donald Trump to motivate their bases. But in most cases, partisans won’t be the deciding factor in election outcomes in California. In the past three decades, it’s become hip to be politically unattached.
Both major parties, especially Republicans, have seen their numbers significantly erode since 1990, while the percentage of voters registered without a party preference has tripled, to 27.5 percent.
In California, more people are registered without party preference than Republican — although polling data from the Public Policy Institute of California suggests those registered without a political party are likely to vote in smaller numbers than those in the two major parties.
They are a big, often untapped, group for Democratic and Republican candidates. The question is whether the parties have successfully wooed them — or turned them off with the hyper-partisan rhetoric often seen in this campaign.
(*Brown’s opponent in 2014 was Neel Kashkari, who today is president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.)