Prop. 6 would end ‘modern day slavery.’ Why do half of California voters oppose it?

This November, California voters will decide whether to ban forced labor in state prisons and local jails via Proposition 6.

Its backers, including a large bipartisan group of state lawmakers who voted to place it on the ballot, say the measure is meant to end involuntary servitude, also described by some as modern day slavery.

According to a recent survey by the Public Policy Institute of California, 50% of likely voters said they oppose the measure. About 46% said they would vote yes.

It comes down to a lack of education about the measure, including who is for or against it, said PPIC survey director Mark Baldassare.

“In the case of Prop. 6, there are very few of those kinds of cues right now,” he said.

Voters often look to political parties, business and labor organizations, or elected officials to help them decide how to vote on certain ballot measures, he said.

If voters are unsure about a ballot measure, “they’ll vote no,” Baldassare said.

Prop. 6 has no formal opposition, though some newspaper editorial boards argued against letting inmates refuse to work.

It was placed on the ballot via legislation authored by Assembly member Lori Wilson, D-Suisun City, who chairs the Legislative Black Caucus. Prop 6 is considered a caucus priority.

“Involuntary servitude is, in fact, slavery by another name,” said Jamilia Land, director of the Abolish Slavery National Network and an organizer behind Prop. 6.

Land brushed off the poll and said the campaign plans to roll out video advertisements in support of the bill in the coming days. The campaign held a press conference Friday morning in San Diego with a bipartisan group of officials, and has planned stops in other cities including Sacramento.

Land said when incarcerated people are given work assignments, it can come at the expense of participation in rehabilitative programs.

She also said the ballot measure would not increase prison wages or the costs to run state prisons.

Inmates are often paid less than $1 per hour for their work, which can include jobs to keep the prison running – like cooking or janitorial duties – or harder labor like construction or manufacturing license plates.

“This is not a criminal justice reform bill,” Land said. “This is about humanizing a demographic of people who have been relegated to the darkest corner of subhumanity since the beginning of this country.”

Baldassare said when state lawmakers put measures on the ballot, which is the case with Prop. 6, those same lawmakers often don’t have as much time or resources to campaign for the measures.

“It’ll be interesting to see if the legislature and the supporters of this initiative are going to create that sense of this is what it’s about (and) what’s the problem we’re trying to solve here,” he said.

Other states , including Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, Alabama and Utah have approved similar measures in recent years.