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By Mike Bodine
Register Staff
5-21-2009 The results of the Statewide Special Election held Tuesday, the 12th election California voters have had to decide on in seven years, are not surprising. It has been predicted by newspapers and TV news outlets throughout the state for weeks that voters would turn down measures that would increase taxes to help balance the budget.
Those measures were all part of the state budget hatched in February by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislators.
Of the six propositions on the ballot, only Prop 1F, which would deny state elected officials pay raises in years that the state budget is in the red, passed. However, Prop 1F does not prevent those elected officials from giving themselves even bigger raises during years when the budget is in the black.
According to results from the Secretary of State’s Office on Wednesday, the other five measures were struck down by voters by a margin of 2 to 1, statewide and across Inyo County
A breakdown:
• Prop 1A, the “rainy day” fund measure, failed statewide 65.9 to 34.1 percent, and countywide, there were 2,290 votes, or 71.6 percent, against the measure and 912 votes, or 28.4 percent, for it.
• Prop 1B, which would extend tax increases to pay back, not increase revenue to, K-14 schools, failed statewide by 62.6 to 37.4 percent and in Inyo by 2,121 votes, or 67.1 percent, to 1,042 votes or 32.9 percent.
• Prop 1C, which would borrow from future lottery revenues to bolster the General Fund, failed statewide 64.6 to 35.4 percent, and in Inyo, there were 2,216 votes or 69.6 percent against and 968 votes, or 31.2 percent, in favor.
• Prop 1D that would take funds from one children’s program to give to another children’s program lost statewide 65.8 to 34.2 percent and countywide by 2,155 votes, or 67.8 percent, to 1,027 votes, or 32.2 percent.
• Prop 1E, which would borrow from one mental health program and give to another mental health program, lost statewide 66.4 to 33.6 percent, and in Inyo by 2,184 votes, or 68.8 percent, to 992 votes, or 31.2 percent.
• Prop 1F, which would prevent state elected officials, who can give themselves raises, and whose job it is to draft a balanced state budget, from getting pay raises in years the budget is not balanced, passed by as wide a margin as the other measures failed. Statewide 1F passed by 73.9 to 26.1 percent, and in Inyo County, it passed with 2,221 votes, or 69.4 percent, in favor and 982 votes, or 30.6 percent, against.
Voter turnout in Inyo County was better than the state average of approximately 23 percent. Mary Roper, Inyo County registrar, said that of the 9,545 registered voters for this election, 9,057 received mail-in ballots, with 4,565 returned as of Tuesday night, and 122 voters voting at the one of three polling places. Roper said there are still ballots to be counted and so exact numbers cannot yet be given.
But, it seems Inyo’s turnout will be close to 50 percent, similar to Sierra and Alpine counties that reported high returns. These are small rural counties with small numbers of voters, while Imperial and Los Angeles counties are reporting around 15 percent turnout, according to the Secretary of State.
Media outlets in Sacramento, Shasta and Orange County all reported very low voter turnout. The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday morning that turnout in L.A. County was less than 12 percent.
The Times reported that the complex, bordering on confusing, language of the propositions combined with voters being gun-shy about paying more taxes was being blamed for both low voter turnout and the failure of the measures to pass.
At a town hall meeting in the City of Industry Monday, Schwarzenegger said that these propositions are a $6 billion piece of balancing the $42 billion budget deficit. The other money to balance the budget came from $16 billion in cuts, $12 billion in “revenue increases” or taxes, and $8 billion in federal stimulus money that has yet to arrive.
Schwarzenegger’s response to the election was quoted in The Mercury News of San Jose on Wednesday. “We heard the voice of the voters loud and clear and they want us to go all out and make those cuts,” he said, referring to “drastic cuts” Californians can now expect in education, healthcare and law enforcement.
The governor said he blamed the ballot failures on voter fatigue. “If you look at the history of special elections, it appears they don’t work.”
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