Vice President Harris is refusing to say how she voted on a tough-on-crime ballot measure at stake in California this year that would increase criminal penalties for some drug and theft offenses. She says she does not want to endorse either the yes or no campaign, but said she did cast her ballot. 

Proposition 36 — formally titled, “Allows Felony Charges and Increases Sentences for Certain Drug and Theft Crimes” — would stiffen penalties for those who are repeat thieves, those who engage in coordinated shoplifting with larger groups, and those who sell drugs. 

Ms. Harris says she does not want to talk about how she voted on Prop 36 with just 48 hours to go until the election. 

“I am not going to talk about the vote on that because, honestly, it’s the Sunday before the election and I don’t intend to create an endorsement one way or another around it, but I did vote.” Ms. Harris told reporters in Michigan on Sunday. 

Democrats in the state, including Governor Newsom, have rallied against Prop 36, saying that it would take the state backwards by increasing the prison population, putting more strain on law enforcement, and unjustly locking people up.

“I fear I can’t do everything,” Mr. Newsom told reporters at a press conference in September. “I’m trying to get Kamala Harris elected president of the United States. … I just pray, I really do, people take a good look at Proposition 36.”

The Public Policy Institute of California found in a recent poll that 71 percent of likely California voters are likely to support Prop 36 at the polls this week, including 63 percent of Democrats, 85 percent of Republicans, and 73 percent of independents. Hispanic voters back the proposition by a whopping 52-point margin, 75 percent to 23 percent. 

Retail and property crime in Ms. Harris’s home state has become a salient issue for voters this year, as they consider their options for electing mayors, district attorneys, and sheriffs. The mayor of San Francisco, London Breed, who is facing some liberal challengers in her bid for a second term, has endorsed Prop 36. Nathan Hochman, who is challenging the left-wing district attorney of Los Angeles, similarly endorsed Prop 36. 

Ms. Harris’s reluctance to speak on the issue that has captured so much attention from her neighbors was highlighted by another disclosure during the day that the vice president had declined many times over the course of her short campaign for the Oval Office to answer questions about her past statements and policy positions. 

According to an analysis by Axios, Ms. Harris has refused to say if she still supports a ban on the manufacturing of all combustion engine vehicles within the next ten years, if she supports a unilateral path to citizenship for the “Dreamers,” or if she would still support the decriminalization of prostitution and the elimination for for-profit prisons.