Date: December 13, 2023
Contact: Molly Weedn, (415) 209-4217
[email protected]

New Poll Shows California App-Based Drivers Still Overwhelmingly Support Prop 22, Three Years After Passage

71 Percent of Drivers Prefer Being Independent Contractors

Three years after the passage of Proposition 22, California app-based drivers continue to overwhelmingly support the law and strongly prefer to be independent contractors, a new poll of more than 1,000 California app-based drivers conducted by The Mellman Group (TMG) found. 

“This poll validates what I’ve been saying as a driver for years: we want to be independent contractors because the flexibility and ability to earn extra income is crucial,” said Claudia Dobbins, San Jose app-based driver. “It also proves, yet again, that the special interests challenging Prop 22 do not represent the views of app-based drivers. I hope that decision makers and our opponents see this and recognize that Prop 22 should remain law because it’s helping more than a million drivers like me — and because it’s what we want.”

Major findings from the survey include: 

• 71 percent of drivers prefer being independent contractors, with more than half strongly preferring 
• 84 percent of drivers say that the flexibility that being an independent contractor provides is important to them, with nearly three quarters saying it’s very important
• 79 percent of drivers say the ability to earn extra money is important with nearly two thirds saying very important 
• 83 percent of drivers support Prop 22, with 60 percent strongly supporting the measure
• 80 percent of drivers say that Prop 22 has been good for them
• 67 percent are concerned the courts could overturn Prop 22 and say it should be upheld

Prop 22 was supported by nearly 10 million voters in 2020 and protected the right of app-based drivers to work as independent contractors. Prop 22 also provides guaranteed earnings and access to new benefits for app-based rideshare and food delivery drivers. Since the historic victory, opponents have sought to overturn the law through the courts. Despite the California Court of Appeal upholding the measure earlier this year, special interests appealed to the California Supreme Court where the proposition is now under review.

“I’m not sure that I’d be able to continue driving if Prop 22 was overturned, and it makes sense that only a small portion say that they would continue driving,” said Ali Mazhin, Los Angeles area app-based driver. “The result would be really terrible for drivers, riders, and businesses that have come to rely on the app-based economy.”

A recent study conducted by the Berkeley Research Group showed that overturning Prop 22 could cost California more than 1.3 million app-based jobs

The survey was conducted by TMG using lists of app-based drivers who have worked with at least one of the four major app-based platforms (Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart) in the past three months. The 1,021 survey respondents opted-in to participate in the online survey between October 25 – November 5, 2023 in both English and Spanish. Invitations to participate did not reveal the topic, which was described only as “current events and issues in California.” The margin of error is ± 3.1 percentage points.

The full toplines from the survey can be found here.

About The Mellman Group

The Mellman Group (TMG) has provided sophisticated opinion research and strategic advice to political leaders, public interest organizations, Fortune 500 companies, and government agencies for nearly 40 years. Named “Pollster of the Year” three times by the American Association of Political Consultants, The Mellman Group has helped win over fifty Senate and gubernatorial races, over one hundred Congressional campaigns and scores of local statewide and local initiative battles. 

About Protect App-Based Drivers & Services (PADS) Coalition

The Protect App-Based Drivers & Services (PADS) coalition, formerly the Yes on Prop 22 coalition, is continuing to engage to ensure the will of California voters is upheld; to protect access to independent, app-based jobs; and to preserve the availability, affordability and reliability of on-demand app-based rideshare and delivery services that are essential to Californians and our economy.

Proposition 22 was supported by nearly 60% of California voters, 120,000 drivers, and a diverse coalition of more than 140 groups including social justice, senior, community, business, veterans and many others.