According to a survey conducted by the University of California, Berkeley on June 18, most California voters rely on the official voter guide when seeking voting information.
Led by the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, the survey allowed respondents to choose their information sources freely. The results showed that out of nearly 6,000 respondents, approximately 58% considered the voter guide as their primary source for election information, while 40% utilized the internet, newspapers, magazines, and other print materials.
Eric Schickler, co-director of the institute, stated that “the purpose of the official California voter guide is to provide a unified information base for all voters in the state.” Less commonly used information sources included search engines like Google (39%), social media (32%), TV or cable news (31%), and family, friends, neighbors, or colleagues (31%).
The survey also analyzed the preferences of different age groups and racial communities. The results indicated that older and white voters tended to rely more on the official voter guide, newspapers, magazines, and TV news, while younger voters and people of color leaned towards obtaining information from social media and search engines.
The study pointed out that YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok were the preferred social media platforms for most California voters to get election news from. However, 60% of respondents expressed concerns about misinformation and fake information on these social media platforms.
While the authors of the survey report were satisfied with the results, they were worried about the prevalence of misinformation on the internet. Jessica González, co-CEO of Free Press, mentioned in a press release at UC Berkeley, “We are pleased to see the important findings of this survey, particularly the growing public concern about the spread of false information on the internet.”
Free Press is a media advocacy organization founded by former New York Times columnist Bari Weiss and journalist Nellie Bowles in Los Angeles. González emphasized, “These platforms have failed to adequately address the issue of false information on their networks, causing significant harm to our community, especially when people are preparing to vote.”
The survey also explored voters’ attitudes towards a recent bill proposed by the U.S. government. This bill would ban TikTok unless the company could separate from its Chinese parent company.
Although 57% of respondents supported the bill, approximately half of TikTok users in California expressed opposition. Voters who frequently use TikTok stated that they would feel “very frustrated” if the government were to implement a ban.
The survey was conducted from May 29 to June 4 and completed online in five languages.