California Ballot Proposition Guides

These guides contain concise descriptions of California Statewide ballot propositions including non-partisan analyses, official voter information, background materials, pro-and-con websites, newspaper articles and editorials, opinion polls, political endorsements, and financial contribution records. (From 2010-16, the guides were published simultaneously on californiachoices.org.) 

Beginning with the November 7, 2000 General Election until March 2, 2004 Primary Election, the Ballot Guides only contained endorsement tables for the state propositions. The tables showed the endorsements (Yes or No) by prominent political parties, media outlets, unions, and other organizations.  Starting with the November 2, 2004 General Election, the Library wrote individual guides for each statewide proposition in addition to the endorsement table.  City and County ballot measures are not included, nor are candidate endorsements.

A number of official (i.e. California state agency) and non-partisan election resources are consulted in order to create the proposition guides.  We consult newspapers, media outlets, and campaign literature (print and online) to create the endorsement tables. 

To find the text, official results, and other related information for California Propositions, please consult the UC Law/San Francisco California Ballot Measures Database. This is a comprehensive, searchable source of information on California ballot propositions and initiatives from 1911 to the present.

The library also maintains an extensive collection of print clippings and election ephemera, dating back several decades. Check UC Library Search or email igsl@berkeley.edu for more information. We have begun digitizing the ephemera collection, and some parts are now available in UC Berkeley's Digital Collections

If you would like more information about voter registration, ballot information, and voting, please see the Go Bears! Go Vote! Voter Information Guide.