Low-Information Californians

The “low-information voter” is the au courant term these days, though the phenomenon has been well understood by public choice economists under the theory of “rational ignorance.”  But Californians clearly abuse the privilege, and appear to be “irrationally ignorant voters.”  To wit:

40% of Voters Unaware That Jerry Brown Is Seeking Another Term

Here’s an eye-opener: With the election Tuesday, a whopping 4 out of 10 voters don’t even know Gov. Jerry Brown is running for another term.

“Isn’t that astonishing?” said David Metz of the polling firm Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz and Associates.

Metz included the question, “As far as you know, is Gov. Jerry Brown up for re-election this year?” on a statewide survey of 457 likely voters last week.

Metz said the question was prompted by several casual conversations he’d had with people not involved in politics. “I was struck by how many of them were totally unaware that Brown was up for re-election, so I decided to test it out,” he said.

The findings: Forty-two percent of likely voters didn’t know Brown was running — and only about 1 in 5 could name Republican Neel Kashkari as his opponent.

The lack of awareness cut across all voter groups and party lines.

C’mon people, can you at least pay a little attention?  If this is his official portrait from the first time he was governor, imagine what the next one is going to look like:

Jerry Brown 2 copyHat tip: Ben Boychuk.

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