California’s low energy primary: Turnout on track for a record low. Only about 8% of voters had returned ballots as of Tuesday. - eviltoast

Lower turnout generally means fewer Democrats are voting. “This is the kind of thing that would benefit Steve Garvey,” Mitchell said.

Primary turnout is typically all over the map. But there’s at least the potential for this year to be among the lowest in history due to an all-but-decided presidential primary and voter apathy.

A recent poll from the Public Policy Institute of California found low numbers of likely voters are excited about the election. Less than 40 percent said they were “extremely” or “very” enthusiastic about voting for president this year. That number dropped even further (28 percent) when it came to voting for Congress.

  • matjoeman@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Please vote. There’s an open seat for Senate (no incumbent) which is one of the best times for your vote to have a real impact. This doesn’t happen very often. In California there were no open Senate elections for over 20 years (1993-2017).

    • return2ozma@lemmy.worldOP
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      8 months ago

      I’m definitely voting. I do every election. Local and state races have the biggest impact on our lives.

      Also, me voting:

    • trevor@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      8 months ago

      I vote in every primary and general, but are there any cheat sheets for voting on these offices? For stuff like House and Senate races, it’s usually easy enough to find the candidate online and check their voting history and policy statements to see how much of a cretin they really are.

      But for a lot of positions, like judges, school board, etc., you usually get a nameless face with no party affiliation and rarely anything turns up when you google them.

      • matjoeman@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        I get mailers from local political groups with their voter guides. They recommend different people based on if the group is moderate or progressive, lol.

        If you didn’t get any of those or your town doesn’t have those groups you can try just googling “CITY NAME voter guide”.

        • trevor@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          8 months ago

          Yeah. I’ve tried that, and I’ve found a couple of resources, but they never cover the “non-partisan” positions (a joke of a term). At least not in my area.

          But something like you said that’s as simple as “if you’re progressive, here’s a list of names. If you’re a moderate, don’t vote :)” would be great.

  • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net
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    8 months ago

    Just learned about the uncommitted movement in Michigan. Is there anything like this happening in California? Is it too late to raise awareness here? Applying more pressure on Biden around Gaza seems important in the present moment.