New Data Alert: California

With rates of preregistration among 16- and 17-year-olds abysmally low, Governor Newsom thinks it isn’t a problem in need of solving

Today we’re sharing pre-registration data from California, where young people have had the right to preregister to vote since 2016, but where the Governor has repeatedly vetoed bills designed to implement the law in a meaningful way. The result is that preregistration rates in California are appallingly low – just 13%, and the broader effort to increase youth political participation is not living up to its promise.  

Here’s the latest. On September 29, Governor Newsom vetoed a bill (Senate Bill 299), passed with overwhelming support by both houses of the legislature, including bipartisan support in the Assembly, which would have given the Secretary of State authority to create a Secure Automatic Voter Registration system for California.

Secure AVR is a truly automatic system of voter registration at the DMV, adding as many clearly eligible DMV customers to the rolls as possible. California’s current AVR system, adopted in 2016, was intended to be “automatic”, but that’s not how it operates. In fact, according to the state’s own analysis, it misses nearly half of the 16- and 17-year-olds who are eligible to preregister and who interact with the DMV. (To say nothing of the >50% of 16- to 19-year-old California residents who do not get a license at all.)

We wrote about the issue back in April, including successes in other states and the potential to save money in California and to increase opportunities for young people to register to vote.

The most current data available from the Secretary of State and analyzed below, shows that as of September 6, only 13% of 16- and 17-year-olds are preregistered to vote. The rate has barely moved in a year, but would increase dramatically with Secure AVR. 

A broad coalition of grassroots organizations, the California Grassroots Democracy Coalition which had worked for passage of the bill issued a statement expressing deep disappointment in the veto and noting its stark impact: “maintaining an unnecessary barrier to the ballot for 4.7 million eligible but unregistered voters.”

Sadly, this is not the only veto Governor Newsom has exercised to the detriment of the youngest potential voters. 

Back in 2019, the Legislature passed AB 733, which would have required high schools to include educational programming about voter registration and preregistration. Today, state law encourages such efforts, but it is not required. Some examples are here and here. Even the most minimal requirement (designating a person responsible for distributing voter registration forms) is often ignored. Governor Newsom’s veto message at the time said, in essence, that the measure was unnecessary. Five years later, preregistration rates in the state remain flat at a dismal 13%, which would indicate that the law is not only necessary, but urgent for a healthy democracy. 

Without a requirement (or, at a minimum, training, resources, monitoring, and the other policy and programmatic measures that go into implementing any serious priority), overburdened schools can have difficulty finding the time and energy needed to incorporate voter registration in their ongoing activities. 

We can see the results of California’s failure to implement preregistration in the political landscape today, and the national repercussions it may have in November. 

California has no fewer than five congressional seats that are tossups and five more that are competitive this November. It’s not just me saying this, it’s the NY Times and Cook Political Report. There is not a single county in the state with a preregistration rate at or above 20%. In some of the most competitive areas, like Orange County and Fresno, along with other counties in the San Joaquin Valley, the rate is below 15%.

For those who will be 18 by November 5 and want to vote, the deadline to register online or by mail is October 21. Registration is also available in person during early voting and on Election Day.

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California: The details

In the most recent data from California as of September 6, only 13.2% of 16- and 17-year-olds in the state were preregistered to vote. That number has been essentially constant since October 2023.

Meanwhile, back in May, Massachusetts had a pre-registration rate of 38.6%. In December of 2023, Maryland had a rate of 33.4%. In September 2023, Colorado had a rate of 45.8%.

Low rates of preregistration track onto low levels of registration for 18-year-olds. As we recently reported, as of July, less than 45% of 18-year-olds were registered in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.  

Facts don’t fix themselves. It’s up to our readers to spread the word; make sure that all the young people you know are registered or preregistered to vote, and that they help their school communities do the same. 

There’s still time for students and educators to attend a free workshop to learn how to run a drive. Teachers can download a free toolkit to learn how to make a difference in their school communities.

If you live in California and would like to express your opinion to your elected representatives, contact information for Governor Newsom is here. You can use these links to find contact information for your state senator and assembly member. 

But don’t just look at elected officials. You can also help when you restack this post and forward it to teens, educators, school superintendents, parents and others in your network with whom you have a direct contact and who can do all in their powers to encourage teens to register and preregister to vote.

Read more about how to help high school voter registration in your community and some terrific real-world examples of volunteers making a difference.

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