Cal. Prop. 47 Fix Initiative Ahead Over 2/1

U.Cal. Berkeley’s Institute for Governmental Studies has a poll taken early this month on three initiatives on that state’s ballot. The press release is here. Proposition 36 is a measure to fix some of the problems resulting from 2014’s Proposition 47. The poll shows Prop. 36 ahead by 56-23 with 21% undecided.

A landslide win would send a strong signal that the state’s voters are waking up to the reality that the claims that going soft on crime actually improves public safety are nonsense.

Early polls showing an initiative ahead generally need to be regarded with caution, as the late breaks in voting tend to be toward “no,” but this is such a strong lead that this tendency may not matter.

The crosstabs show that the initiative is ahead across all demographic categories, regions, political parties, and income brackets, although the size of the lead varies. Hispanic voters and foreign-born voters are more strongly in favor than the population as a whole. The only crosstab showing any group with net opposition is ideology. Those who identify as “strongly liberal” are opposed 20-47. “Somewhat liberals” are in favor 47-27.