Still Not Sure How to Vote on California's Seven Propositions? We've Got You Covered

Election Day is approaching, but many Californians have already received and returned their mail-in ballots. Are you one of them? Or are you still puzzling over how to vote on the state's seven propositions? Two KQED podcasts — The Bay and Bay Curious — have teamed up with the newsroom to put together a series we call Prop. Fest. Each episode takes a nuanced look at the propositions to help you make the most informed choice.

Grab your sample ballot, a pen and a pair of headphones and listen to our Prop. Fest playlist on Spotify.

California has strong abortion access laws, but Prop. 1 would make abortion constitutional

A crowd of people gather holding signs with messages like, "My body, my choice" written on them in colorful marker. — Hundreds of people gather during a rally for abortion rights outside the Phillip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco on May 3, 2022, as part of a nationwide response to the leaked draft of the Supreme Court's decision that ultimately overturned Roe v. Wade. Recent polling shows 71% of Californians say they'll vote yes on Proposition 1, which would enshrine abortion and contraception access in the state constitution. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

Abortion is already a protected right in California, but Proposition 1 would take it a step further, enshrining the right to reproductive freedom in the state's constitution. That includes the right to abortion and contraception, as well as the right to refuse contraception. Supporters say Prop. 1 ensures that if the political winds in California change someday, reproductive rights won't be going anywhere. Opponents say it's an unnecessary law and worry about a word left out of the proposition: viability.

Props. 26 and 27 offer different ways California could allow sports betting

Huge circular TV screen mounted above a bar shows multiple football games at once. — Whether or not California should allow sports betting — and how it might do so — are big-money questions on the ballot this fall. (Shannon Finney/Getty Images for MGM National Harbor)

There are two gambling propositions on the ballot this year, both related to sports betting. It's currently illegal everywhere in California to bet on sports. But other kinds of gambling are legal on tribal land. Prop. 26 would make sports betting legal on tribal land only, while Prop. 27 would legalize online sports betting everywhere in the state.

Prop. 28 would provide dedicated arts education funding

Three teenage boys-of-color huddle around an art project on the table. — Students in a digital photography class create fake ice cream for a photo shoot. (Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages)

Worried about a lack of arts education in public schools? Proposition 28 would provide a dedicated source of funding for music and visual arts from the general fund. If this passes, roughly $1 billion annually would be earmarked in the state education budget for keeping the arts in K-12 classrooms.

Prop. 29 would change how dialysis is regulated in California

A hospital room, where in the foreground a large, square machine with a screen and lights and tubes coming out of it connect to a woman sitting beyond it, with white hair and glasses, a pink button-up shirt and blue pants. — About 80,000 Californians receive dialysis treatment every month. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Does a proposition to require dialysis clinics to have more medical staff on-site sound familiar? That's because very similar propositions were on the 2018 and 2020 ballots, put there by the same organization.

Prop. 30 asks if the richest Californians should be taxed more to pay for green infrastructure

Graphic painted on the ground says "public charging" with an image of electricity — A public charging station for electric vehicles in San Francisco's Potrero Hill neighborhood. If Prop. 30 passes, money would be used to install more public charging infrastructure. (Anne Wernikoff/KQED)

Proposition 30 would increase taxes on the wealthiest residents to build more electric car charging stations and fund incentives for electric car buyers. Creating more green infrastructure would seem to align with what most Californians want. But this proposition is dividing some Democrats; Gov. Gavin Newsom, a proponent of electric vehicles, has vocally opposed it.

Prop. 31 asks whether California should ban the sale of flavored tobacco

Colorful bottles with pictures of enticing fruit and candy flavors line a shelf — 'Fruit n Custard Banana' flavored tobacco at the Vapor Den in San Francisco, on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. Flavored tobacco has since been banned in San Francisco, and voters are being asked to decide whether products like these should be banned statewide. (Lauren Hanussak/KQED)

Proposition 31 is really a referendum on a law passed in 2020 that banned the sale of flavored tobacco at retail stores in California. The tobacco companies were able to gather enough signatures to put the issue on the ballot before the new law took effect.