2022 California election: Voter guide to Proposition 26

A recent poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by The Times, found that likely voters in California who have seen a lot of ads about the Propositions 26 and 27 were more opposed to the measures than those who had not seen any ads. Supporters of both ballot measures have aired a barrage of negative ads attacking the competing proposition.

“I think it’s the negative advertisements that have kind of been turning voters away,” said Berkeley IGS poll director Mark DiCamillo. “People who haven’t seen the ads are about evenly divided, but people who’ve seen a lot of ads are against it. So, the advertising is not helping.”

And that’s bad news for both ballot measures. The poll found that Proposition 26 earned only 31% support from likely voters, compared with 42% opposed, according to the Berkeley survey of 6,939 likely California voters. Proposition 27 fared even worse — 27% of likely voters in support and 53% opposed.