{"id":1554,"date":"2026-04-29T17:14:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T17:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinosentinel.com\/?p=1554"},"modified":"2026-04-29T17:21:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T17:21:23","slug":"overwhelming-majority-of-californians-say-americas-democracy-under-assault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinosentinel.com\/en\/california\/overwhelming-majority-of-californians-say-americas-democracy-under-assault\/","title":{"rendered":"Overwhelming Majority of Californians Say America\u2019s Democracy Under Assault"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new survey of California voters by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies also finds widespread bipartisan support for the state taking steps to protect democracy and expand voter access.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Peter Schurmann<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apr 28, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SACRAMENTO, California \u2014<\/strong> Eighty-nine percent of California voters believe American democracy is under strain. Overwhelming majorities, including significant numbers of Republicans, also support state action to protect democracy and expand voter access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those are among the findings from a new multilingual poll<\/a> of nearly 6000 voters released by the University of California Berkeley\u2019s Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a pretty stunning number,\u201d said IGS Co-Director Eric Schickler. He presented the findings during an April 27 event in Sacramento alongside Matt Barreto with UCLA\u2019s Voting Rights Project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schickler stressed that concerns about threats to democracy among voters in the Golden State cut across partisan lines. \u201cIt\u2019s striking that 46% of Republicans say American democracy is under attack. Another 33% that it is being tested,\u201d noted Schickler. \u201cThis is a widespread concern.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Similar views across partisan, racial lines<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The non-partisan survey polled 5,962 registered voters in five languages \u2014 English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean. Questions were sent via email and text message from April 9-18. The poll was conducted on behalf of the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The periodic survey provides a barometer of California voters\u2019 views on matters of politics and public policy. Schickler said the breadth of languages and the size of the sample pool allows researchers to dig more deeply into diverse subgroups across the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s poll also led with a question that, according to Schickler, \u201cnobody would have thought to ask 10 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sixty eight percent of respondents agreed American democracy is under attack, while 21% said our democracy is being tested. Those findings cut across both partisan and racial lines; including 74% of white voters, 63% of Latinos, 64% of API voters and 70% of Black voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is striking in California that you see across racial groups very similar views on these questions,\u201d said Schickler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Voter fraud not a major concern<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Respondents pointed to money in politics, the Supreme Court and big tech as major threats to democracy. Seventy eight percent \u2014 including 10% of Republicans \u2014 also blamed President Trump for the erosion of democratic norms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only about 20% cited voter fraud as a concern despite it being a major issue for the president and his supporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among them is Riverside County Sheriff and Republican candidate for California governor, Chad Bianco. In March, Bianco seized more than 600,000 ballots<\/a> and related election materials from county election offices as part of an investigation into allegations of voter fraud during elections in 2025. California Attorney general Rob Bonta sued. The case is set to be heard by the State Supreme Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe know among some Republicans there is a lens of voter fraud,\u201d said Barreto. \u201cBut that\u2019s not actually the majority position, even among Republicans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A voter ID initiative<\/a> recently qualified for the state\u2019s November ballot. If passed, the GOP-backed measure would require voters to show some form of government issued ID at the polls. For mail in ballots voters would need to provide the last four digits of their ID. The bill mirrors similar legislation<\/a>, the SAVE Act, that President Trump has pushed for at the federal level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent polling found a slim majority of Californians backing the state measure. But in the IGS poll, Schickler said when provided with Republican and Democrat talking points \u2014 protecting the election system\u2019s integrity versus a Trump-aligned effort to restrict the vote \u2014 \u201cthat turns around and there is majority opposition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers estimate that up to 1 million registered California voters \u2014 a majority low-income voters of color \u2014 do not have the requisite ID or the means to acquire one. They would therefore be blocked from casting their vote if the measure passes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Wide support for state efforts to protect democracy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A large majority of Californians, including 58% of Republicans, also support the state taking a more active role in protecting democracy and expanding voting access. \u201cThey want something done,\u201d said Barreto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A slew of bills aimed at shoring up the state\u2019s elections process are now making their way through the California legislature. These include SB 1164 and SB 1360, authored by Representative Sabrina Cervantes (D \u2013 Riverside). Collectively known as the California Voting Rights Act of 2026<\/a>, the bills target \u201cvoter suppression and vote dilution.\u201d They also promise to expand access to the ballot and election materials for limited English-proficient voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was \u201coverwhelming support\u201d among respondents for such efforts, said Barreto. That includes 61% who favored the creation of a statewide Democracy Fund that would, among other things, expand election offices and language access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The poll comes as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a case in October, Louisiana v. Callais<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> that could determine the fate of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA). The law dramatically expanded voting access for voters of color. It also barred states with a history of discriminatory voter legislation from enacting laws unduly impacting minority voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ninety one percent of respondents to the IGS survey described the VRA as a \u201cgood idea.\u201d Fifty six percent strongly supported the idea of California enacting its own version of the VRA if SCOTUS does away with it at the federal level. An additional 13% responded they somewhat support the idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Democracy still counts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is something we\u2019re going to continue to track,\u201d said Mark DiCamillo, director of the IGS Poll. \u201cDefending democracy and protecting voting rights will be among the issues that we ask voters, how important is this to you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DiCamillo says the question will also be factored into a forthcoming poll on the California governor\u2019s race just ahead of the June primaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe last thing we should worry about on the 250th<\/sup> anniversary of this nation\u2019s birth is that we will not have our votes counted,\u201d said former Secretary of Health and Human Services and current California gubernatorial candidate, Xavier Becerra.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new survey of California voters by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies also finds widespread bipartisan support for the state taking steps to protect democracy and expand voter access.… <\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,51],"tags":[41,311,313,312,314],"class_list":["post-1554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-california","category-estados-unidos","tag-california","tag-democracy","tag-eric-schickler-matt-barreto","tag-uc-berkeley-institute-of-governmental-studies","tag-voter-fraud"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosentinel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosentinel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosentinel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosentinel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosentinel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1554"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/latinosentinel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1556,"href":"https:\/\/latinosentinel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1554\/revisions\/1556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosentinel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosentinel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosentinel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosentinel.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}