Kamala Harris won't say how she voted on California's crime measure

DETROIT (AP) – Vice President Kamala Harris declined Sunday to say how she voted on a important ballot measure in her home state of California, which would reverse criminal justice reforms passed in recent years.

Harris addressed a question about the ballot initiative in comments to reporters during his campaign in the battleground state of Michigan. She also confirmed two days before Election Day that she had “just filled out her mail-in ballot” and it was “on its way to California.”

“I’m not going to talk about the vote on this. Because frankly, it's the Sunday before the election and I have no plans to build support for it one way or another,” said Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general and U.S. senator, before running for office in 2020 Vice President was elected.

The Democratic presidential candidate's decision not to comment publicly on the high-profile initiative could leave her open to criticism from Republican Donald Trump that she is soft on crime and from some left-leaning voters who would like to see her speak out forcefully against what they perceive as draconian anti-crime efforts.

If passed, the initiative would make the crime of shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders and increase penalties for some drug crimes, including those involving the synthetic opioid fentanyl. It would also give judges the power to order treatment for people with multiple drug offenses.

Supporters said the initiative was necessary to close loopholes in existing laws that made it difficult for law enforcement to punish shoplifters and drug dealers.

Opponents, including Democratic leaders and social justice groups, said the proposal would disproportionately incarcerate poor people and those with drug problems rather than targeting ringleaders Hire large groups of people to steal Goods that you can resell online.

California's handling of crime is a key issue in this election cycle.

Beyond the ballot measure is San Francisco Mayor London Breed, a Democrat a difficult re-election campaign against challengers who say she has allowed the city to spiral out of control.

The moderate Democratic mayor faces four primary opponents in the Nov. 5 vote, all fellow Democrats who say Breed has wasted her six years in office. They say she allowed San Francisco to do it sink into chaos and blamed others for their inability to curb homelessness and unpredictability Road behaviorwhile collapsed businesses pleaded for help.

Meanwhile, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price faces a recall election and Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon is running against a rival who has criticized the incumbent's progressive approach to crime and punishment.

Crime data shows the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles saw a steady increase in shoplifting between 2021 and 2022, according to a study by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.

Statewide, shoplifting rates increased over the same period but were still below pre-pandemic levels in 2019, while commercial burglaries and robberies have become more common in urban counties, the study said.

Harris, in the final days of the 2024 campaign, urged Americans in battleground states to make a voting plan to get themselves, friends and loved ones to the polls.

But the vice president and her campaign team had, until her comments on Sunday, avoided talking in detail about when she would cast her vote and dodged questions about how she would vote on the California measure.

She suggested this to reporters last month she would reveal it their position on the ballot measure.

“I haven’t voted yet and I actually haven’t read it yet,” Harris told reporters at the end of an Oct. 16 campaign stop in Detroit. “But I’ll let you know.”

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Madhani reported from Washington.