Welcome to the Center for Inclusive Democracy!
The Center for Inclusive Democracy (CID) at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy is a leading nonpartisan research center focused on elections, voting behaviors, and electoral and political participation.
Founded by political sociologist Dr. Mindy Romero, CID’s studies have been widely used to inform public policy at all levels of government, as well as empower local communities seeking to address disparities in the social and economic well-being of the electorate.
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Read about CID’s history and milestones.
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With the expansion of vote-by-mail access made permanent and COVID-19 becoming less of a consideration for many voters on how and when to vote, many policy makers and voter advocates are questioning whether the voting behaviors in the 2020 and 2022 general elections such as the widespread use of vote-by-mail ballots—will continue in future elections at the same level. To address this
speculation, CID conducted a statewide analysis of voter behavior in the 2024 general election. In this report, we examine voting methods and vote by- mail ballot rejections in the 2024 general election broken out by race, ethnicity, age group, party affiliation, gender and language designation.
Click here for the report and highlight brief
After historically high turnout in the 2020 presidential election amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2024 presidential election saw a decline in turnout across California. Despite the hopeful expectations of many that the voter behavior seen in 2020 would become the new normal, a notable number of Californians who participated four years earlier did not participate in November. This drop in turnout prompted many policymakers, advocates and researchers to ask who participated in the 2024 presidential election, and possibly more importantly, who did not. To explore these questions, the Center for Inclusive Democracy conducted a statewide analysis of voter participation in the 2024 presidential election by examining official California voter files. Analysis was broken out by race, ethnicity, age group, party affiliation, gender and language designation.
Click here for the report and highlight brief
California has been known as the largest state Democratic stronghold in the nation for decades, with no Republican candidate winning the state’s coveted electoral college votes since 1988. In the 2024 presidential election, however, just under 59% of Californians voted for the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, resulting in the state’s smallest Democratic vote share in a presidential general election since 2004. A similar story of decline and a corresponding increase in the vote share of Republicans was seen in many jurisdictions across the country, prompting much speculation as to why this occurred and whether it will endure in future elections, especially among young voters and voters of color.
Click here for the report.
